Checking In

Bombs in breast milk?

Fri Feb 9, 4:31 PM ET

Sometimes, even when you follow all the rules, you still get nailed.

That's the message the Transportation Security Administration sent to business travelers earlier this week in Las Vegas when Security agents at McCarran International Airport forced a nursing mother to throw out breast milk she had pumped — apparently thinking it was some kind of security threat.

Nico Melendez, the

TSA's West Coast spokesman, apologized for the mistake and said agents mishandled the situation. The traveler, Rachel Popplewell, had packaged the milk in three-ounce containers in compliance with rules the agency put in place last summer after British authorities discovered a terrorist plot to destroy U.S.-bound airplanes using liquid explosives.

Popplewell said the agents told her they couldn't let her through with the milk because she wasn't toting a baby with her to prove her intentions.

Is this a textbook example of a complete lack of common sense, or what? Even the TSA must be able to figure out that the only reason women pump milk is to use it when they can't be there in person, such as, on a business trip (Popplewell planned to bring her milk to her 9-month-old son in Orange County, Calif., after a one-day trip to a footwear tradeshow).

As outraged as Popplewell and other business travelers may be, there's also other groups to which the TSA should apologize. TSA, take it from another Mom: You do not want to tick off breastfeeding advocacy groups like La Leche League. These women are militant and they will eat your lunch. They are hard enough on women who can't or won't breastfeed. I can only imagine what they are plotting for airport security.

Milk-filled water balloons? Squirt guns? Stay tuned.

Write to: Barbara Correa at bboydstoncorrea@yahoo.com

Next: A common name just won't fly
Previous: Keeping the faith

RECOMMEND THIS STORY

Recommend It:

Average (Not Rated)

0.0 stars
» Recommended Stories

Comments

Join the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

1
Wow - another breast feeding nazi movement - you choose the have kids . . . need milk, buy formula and stop hauling it around . . . and another thing . . .if I wanted to see a nasty fat bloated teet I would go to the zoo . . . not to a food establishment, church or where ever you modern day moron " I have the right to whip out my teet and feed my future loser spoiled self absorbed worthless brat" anywhere igno-mom. But hey, if I see you breast feeding next to me anywhere in public . . .how about I drop trow and land a huge moo on your little satan - isnt that a natural body function that "I" should have a right to share with YOU TOO !!!!
Posted by kittyarc on Fri, Feb 9, 2007 7:52 PM ET
2
Isn't it just lovely to see what polite, compassionate people are on the internet (kittarc)? As a work-outside-the-home, breastfeeding mom of a 5-month-old, I recently took a business trip to Seattle and dutifully checked my suitcase because I had breast milk in it. What a pain, though, given that it was a 2-day trip and it would have been much easier to carry my small suitcase on board. I think the airlines should make an exception for pumped breast milk. I can't believe the ignorance of the security agent.
Posted by organic_mama on Fri, Feb 9, 2007 8:17 PM ET
3
I just want to say that I have been a member of La Leche League here in Los Angeles (shout out East SFV Toddler!) for over 6 years and never once have we been hard on a woman who couldn't or didn't want to breastfeed. Would I consider myself militant? You bet. If a woman wants to breastfeed I support her right 100% and if you ask me what I think is best for babies I'd say breastmilk 100%. But I don't cast judgment. LLL is here to help moms who choose to breastfeed, not demonize moms who don't. End of story.
Posted by spielbee on Fri, Feb 9, 2007 9:53 PM ET
4
Hey Kittyarc....way to sexualize food. Your total ignorance is typical of people who open their mouth without ever using their brain. You must lead a sad sad lonely life.
Posted by mrsbanna on Sat, Feb 10, 2007 1:24 AM ET
5
I suppose in most cases security would need to be high in airports but having breast milk in a bottle, if there was some sort of weapon concealed in the milk wouldn't they be able to detect it without having to waste the milk. kittyarc buying formula is way too expensive and another thing kittyarc, a female can breast feed anywhere they want. It doesn't have to be a particular place. In fact years ago in a toy store I use to work for, we had a women there breast feeding her baby, however she could have exposed a lot less but she didn't care and we couldn't boot her out of the store either because of the rule that a woman can breast feed anywhere in public. But then again some of the male employees didn't mind the show either and the employees kinda tried to keep kids out of the area where she was breastfeeding.
Posted by nightwolf113268 on Sat, Feb 10, 2007 5:04 AM ET
6
Really tired of these women who think that it is alright to breast feed out in plain view of the public. Any woman with self respect / would do it in private. About this there are two wrongs, airport security is way too tight to not know there own rules on the 3oz. And as for the dumb @#$% , why does she have it without the baby..... shouldn't she pumped herself and left it with the baby, since it was only 1 day away???
Posted by benson_trent on Sat, Feb 10, 2007 11:45 AM ET
7
it is amazing at the complete lack of knowledge some people have.she pumped her breasts while away and therefore was bringing it back to her child.it is a woman's right to breastfeed her baby.however,i do believe that women have a responsibility to cover up while doing so.we can't walk around naked and they should not be allowed to just pop out their breasts wherever they please.my kid should not have to see a woman's breast in public at a toy store.have some respect for others.
Posted by maureenmccloy on Sat, Feb 10, 2007 12:54 PM ET
8
For Benson and other like-minded individuals.I'm so confused and really need to ask what you mean. Why would self-respect cause me to hide when I am breastfeeding? Please clarify in a more specific way. Don't you mean I should hide myself to make others more comfortable? So I should be full of fear and shame when I am feeding my child and think about nearby strangers comfort first? Yes, perhaps fear and shame would cause me to hide when I was breasfeeding, which might make folks like you who are afraid of female power feel safe, but certainly self-respect would give me the abilility to to do what was best for my child and not best for any misogynists who might be lurking nearby. (Let's face it gals, there are plenty of female misogynists out there to.)
Posted by linnea.pj@sbcglobal.net on Sat, Feb 10, 2007 1:23 PM ET
9
Hey kitty and benny~If you had the brains to actually read the story she was just carrying the milk NOT nursing in public. Apparently you both were never given the adoration and attention that comes through a mother caring enough to hold her child while being fed, breast or bottle, or you wouldnt be so incredibly heartless.
Posted by roxannei on Sat, Feb 10, 2007 2:48 PM ET
10
Carrying breastmilk and breastfeeding in public should both be acceptable. I love how it's okay for women to bare almost everything on national tv (Britney Spears, Janet Jackson), in commercials (Victoria's Secret),and in magazines that everyone including children are able to see, but to many people it's not okay to breast feed (even discreetly) in public. Believe it or not there actually was a time before formula and bottles when EVERYONE was breastfed or else there would be no human race. Formula wasn't around until 1867. People invented the fear and shame associated breastfeeding. Why, I can't fathom. We women were actually made to breast feed just like every other mammal. But you don't see human babies nursing from cows do you? I think there's nothing better or more appropriate than human breast milk for human babies anywhere and anytime. However, all due respect to those who choose not to or can't.
Posted by cbaxter65 on Sat, Feb 10, 2007 3:57 PM ET