An American mom has been ordered to stop breastfeeding her six-month-old daughter after a judge in a bitter custody battle with her estranged husband, ruled that it was interfering with his time with their children. Arleta Ramirez has been breastfeeding her daughter since she was born in July and had also breastfed her son, who is now two, the Washington Post reported. According to the outlet Ramirez was ordered to 'make every effort to place the child on a feeding schedule and use a bottle' by a Prince William County judge in late November. Beginning this month, the judge's ruling also granted the children's father, Mike Ridgway, four visitation days and overnight visits. Ridgway complained that his daughter's feeding times were interfering with his visits, but Ramirez who has had trouble pumping milk in the past, believes, like some experts, that 'breast is best.' She is preparing evidence for a hearing in April from breastfeeding experts as well as a letter from her paediatrician.
'Why are they forcing me to stop breastfeeding?' she told the Washington Post. 'Isn't that her right? Isn't that in her best interest?'
Ridgway said that he had given Ramirez 'space to both nurses and to pump milk for me to bottle-feed our daughter while she is in my care.' 'Past the age of 6 months I will continue to support breastfeeding and bottle-feeding our daughter breast milk as much as possible, while also supplementing with formula only when absolutely necessary,' he added.
Ridgway's attorney, Tara Steinnerd, said Ramirez was using breastfeeding 'as a weapon' in what she claims is a means to salvage a relationship that is over. 'They come up with a myriad of excuses,' she told the outlet. 'It's about using breastfeeding as a weapon against visitation.'
Stephanie Bodak Nicholson, president of La Leche League's USA Council, said she received a least one call every year about breastfeeding during custody disputes.
'It's definitely something we get calls on. It's frequent enough that we keep it on our radar,' she told the paper.
La Leche is a non-profit that supports and trains new moms on breastfeeding offering emotional support and tips, but not legal advice on the matter. Meghan Boone, an associate professor at the Wake Forest University School of Law who studies pregnancy and parenting rights said that the idea that only women can care for young children has been 'discredited' and may be considered 'sex discrimination' by men seeking custody.
'You're not supposed to use the tender years doctrine anymore,' Boone said. 'If we're talking about the need for a child to be with mom and not dad, that sounds like tender years.'