study calculated that a rise in breastfeeding rates could result in potential US cost savings of more than 3.6 billion.

Unsurprisingly, this lack of valuation of breastmilk translates to the workplace. According to Jake Aryeh Marcus, JD, in “ Pumping Nine to Five,” in the May–June 2008 issue of Mothering, in 2007 only 26 percent of US employers reported having a “lactation program/ designated area” for their employees. However, employers report that lactation programs are on the rise: that 26 percent in 2007 is up from 18 percent in 2003. No federal law establishes or protects a right to pump breastmilk in the workplace. Only 18 states (plus Puerto Rico) have statutes related to breastfeeding in the workplace; these statutes vary widely.

We’re doing better with legislation that protects breastfeeding in public. Twenty-nine states protect breastfeeding in public but have no enforcement provisions. Nine states (plus Puerto Rico) do have laws with enforcement, and seven have laws that exclude breastfeeding from certain criminal charges. Only four states—Idaho, Nebraska, North Dakota, and West Virginia—do not protect public breast-feeding at all.

Hanna Rosin’s article exposes the dichotomy between the high value we place on breast-feeding and the low value we place on mothering, but it is cowardly to blame breastfeeding. Slandering breastfeeding because our society makes it inconvenient is like vacillating on equal pay for women because it’s di cult to achieve.

This is no time to waver: Powerful economic and political forces are continually undermining breastfeeding progress. Surely, we need state and federal protections for breastfeeding—that’s a given. To achieve our national health goals, we—like our sisters around the world—also need guaranteed health care, paid family leaves, and caregiving credits. Bottle-feeding is an old-school feminist solution to inequality. The equal-rights arena of today is breastfeeding.

NOTE: In the interests of space and readability, the many sources referenced for this editorial are not cited here. Those wishing to consult those sources should go to the online version of this article, at www.mothering.com/guest_editors/ quiet_place/ quiet_place.html.