Sophie Currier, a Harvard student who has been in the news recently for her lawsuit to gain extra break time during her licensing exam in order to breastfeed, has finally won her appeal and will be granted the extra time she says she needs - 60 minutes added onto the standard 45 minute breaks.

As a mom with 27 months of nursing under my belt, I am definitely in the pro-breastfeeding club. But in this case I have to admit I am a bit skeptical. Why? Firstly I am not quite convinced that feeding her child is her main concern here. She already has been granted a special exception to take the test over two nine hour days instead of the normal one, because of her dyslexia and ADHD. How many exceptions should she be granted? (She failed the test the last time she took it about four months ago). Also, there have been other nursing mothers who have taken the test successfully without the extra time that Ms. Currier claims to need - so are they being disadvantaged from this?

This is, after all, a medical exam. Aren’t doctors are supposed to have a strong character to excel in stressful situations, not be constantly looking for excuses? I honestly can’t see why her problem is so big - especially that she felt the need to sue to receive additional special privileges.

As a working mother, I have also been in many situations where it has not been convenient for me to breastfeed. I have been in day-long client meetings where I have had to slip out for 5 minutes to pump briefly, only to express enough milk to release the pressure and provide me some comfort. (And I was forward-thinking enough to freeze extra feedings, so my babies were just fine at those times.)

To me, it comes down to personal choice. There most certainly ARE ways to be creative about breastfeeding, especially for a career-driven mother, which Ms. Currier appears to be. In our cases, it is all about the balance… and yes, there are times when the career might need to take a bit of priority, but with planning there really is no negative impact to mother or child.

While I am 100% for the right for women to breastfeed whenever/wherever they need to, I wonder if a high-profile case such as this could actually result in a set-back for the cause if she is insincere and using this as an excuse to further her own personal agenda. And in this case, I am really not convinced that her situation merited the special arrangements.

Does Ms. Currier deserve the extra time, or is she looking for excuses to give herself the extra edge she needs to pass her exam?  What do you think?

Posted by Meganlux