Actress Tia Mowry isn’t ready to join the growing number of mothers who are freely breastfeeding in public. The budding food entrepreneur revealed to Essence why she isn’t ready to make the leap.
Mowry, who has a 6-year-old boy with husband Cory Hardrict gave birth to their second child, a baby girl in May. “The Game” alum spoke candidly, “I’m just gonna be really honest with you. I think it’s awesome and amazing that we now can [all] breastfeed in public. But I’m still a little [hesitant and] I tend to do bottles out in public more than I do breastfeeding.” She continued, “Now, of course, if she doesn’t want the bottle and she wants to take the boob, there have been several times when I’ve covered myself up and I’ll go ahead and breastfeed in public.”
Mowry also explained that her celebrity status in part keeps her from pulling out her boob in public. “Can I give [an] analogy? When you go to a Korean spa…just stay with me for a minute…you’re fully nude, right? I remember I went to a spa and this woman walked up to me and she’s like, ‘Hey, aren’t you the girl from ‘Sister, Sister?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ I’m fully naked, and again I’m like, ‘This is unbearable!'” She added, “I don’t know, people would see me just breastfeeding out in public and go, ‘That’s the girl from ‘Sister, Sister’, and guess what, I saw her boob!’ You know? That’s just for me, but I think it’s awesome and amazing that women are able to do it.”
Despite her own hesitations, Mowry insists it’s a personal choice and encourages other women to go at their own pace and refrain from judging each other. “If you’re comfortable with whipping out your boob, more power to the nation. But I will cover myself up, and that’s how I breastfeed my daughter in public.”
