Breastfeeding in Public: This is What Austrians Say

A survey found that 57 percent of respondents support breastfeeding in public, with 53 percent among childless individuals. None of the mothers surveyed consider it inappropriate to breastfeed outside the home. About 29 percent of respondents accept breastfeeding in public places if the mother is covered. Eleven percent believe mothers should go to a secluded place like a toilet. Five percent of men and two percent of women believe that breastfeeding should only take place at home.

Two out of three mothers have experienced negative reactions to breastfeeding in public

According to surveys conducted in 2022 and 2023 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, two out of three mothers have already experienced negative reactions when breastfeeding their baby outside their own four walls. Excerpts from over 1,000 reports from affected women show that public breastfeeding sometimes leads to negative comments or complaints: "I was called a dairy cow," one woman was quoted in the release, another reported: "Another mother in the restaurant complained to the waiter about me because her teenage sons 'couldn't look away' while I was breastfeeding."

Three-quarters of participants in the current survey support legal protection for breastfeeding mothers in public spaces. Among young people under 30, it is even 85 percent, according to the release. On the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week from August 1 to 7, 2025, MAM and the Midwives Center Vienna are calling for legal protection for breastfeeding mothers. An action is also planned at Vienna's Heldenplatz on August 7 at 3:00 PM. Parents and supporters will demonstrate for the rights of babies and for protection against discrimination for breastfeeding mothers, it was stated.

(APA/Red)

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