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Breast-feeding in public: US library apologises to Indian origin woman

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IANS New York

A library in New York has apologised to an Indian-origin woman after an employee of the public library asked her to stop breast-feeding her daughter in public.

"We will be giving our staff additional coaching to remind them about the proper practice for maintaining a welcoming environment," CBS New York online on Tuesday cited a library statement as saying.

Sherry Singh, a regular visitor at the Forest Hills library, was last weekend told to stop feeding her child in the library and breast-feed her four-month-old daughter in the restroom.

"Me and my other daughter were playing with puppets, when this little one started crying. I started nursing her," Singh was quoted as saying.

 

"An employee came over and told me not to breast-feed my daughter there," Singh said.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the law allows breast-feeding in public.

"It has been the law for quite a while. It is every woman's right to breast-feed in public," Lieberman said.

Singh has accepted the library's apology and is not taking any legal action, but she wants the story to go out to educate others.

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First Published: Sep 23 2015 | 4:14 PM IST

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