A North Carolina mom is speaking up — and not holding back — after she says she was harshly scolded by a judge after breastfeeding her baby in court and told to remove her. Danielle Bell had been there to contest a traffic ticket she'd received, but she left shaken after the judge threatened to bring in Child Protective Services.
As Bell told WRAL, she was trying to be discreet while nursing her 3-month-old, Penelope, when a deputy approached her.
According to Bell, he told her to leave, citing that children younger than 12 are not permitted in the courtroom.
Uh … say what now? Surely this couldn't also apply to babies. Babies who, when breastfeeding, can't be separated from their mothers for long spells of time?
Bell says she was floored by the supposed "rule," but the deputy was not budging.
"I felt discriminated against," she told WRAL earlier this week. "This is the way she survives -- by breastfeeding -- because she refuses a bottle."
According to WRAL, state and federal laws in North Carolina permit women to breastfeed in public spaces, so it's not entirely clear why it would be a problem in this case. (Because certainly, a breastfeeding baby trumps the whole kids under 12 rule, right?)
Additionally, Bell insists she wasn't exposing herself, because her baby and her breast were covered by the sling.
But in case you're thinking this was just the case of a deputy who misinterpreted the rules of the court -- just wait -- this story gets worse.
Bell says she handed her off Penelope to her husband, who was sitting outside the courtroom in a hallway, so she didn't miss her case.
But once she was face to face with District Court Judge Resson Faircloth, the judge reiterated the no-baby thing, telling her not to bring the baby in again.
Bell says she tried to reason with the judge, but he was having none of it.
"'If leave her home, she's unable to eat,'" Bell claims to have told the judge. "He then replied to me that was not his problem and that, if I had any other excuse, he was going to take her that day and have me put in contempt."
And we wonder why breastfeeding moms feel so persecuted for trying to feed their babies in public. People also don't understand why breastfeeding rates in America are lower than what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends. But aside from exclusive breastfeeding being pretty damn hard as more moms head back into the workforce, it's also not as encouraged as we'd like to think it is.
But I digress. This isn't even the part of the story that will get you the most fired up.
According to the new mom, the judge then threatened to put the baby in the custody of Child Protective Services.
"That's when I walked out of the courtroom crying," Bell told the news station. "I definitely have fear of going back to the courthouse. I am worried about the consequences that will happen."
Both Faircloth and Johnston County Chief District Court Judge Jackie Lee declined to comment on the allegations when WRAL reached out.
The new mom is due back in court May 20, but I'm guessing it won't be easy for her to separate from her baby then, either. And after her last experience, I'm sure she is dreading her return.
