#Sunday #Selfie #Love #Light

A photo posted by Alyssa Milano (@milano_alyssa) on Mar 29, 2015 at 5:13pm PDT

Alyssa Milano welcomed her second child, a daughter named Elizabella Dylan, last September with husband David Bugliari. Since then, Alyssa’s advocated for more acceptance of public breastfeeding and no shaming of moms who do so. It’s been a long time since I dealt with this issue firsthand. I remember trying to pump milk at work, which was exhausting but necessary to keep up milk supply and fill bottles for the next day. On rare days, a relative would bring my daughter to me so I could feed her on lunch break. That eliminated some of the pumping, which was nice. Every ounce of pumping feels like it takes forever.

Alyssa dealt with a sucky situation yesterday regarding her own pumped milk. The security agents at Heathrow airport made her throw away a bottle of her supply. She did what any upset mom would do — she tweeted the airport to express her dismay:

(1 of 2) @HeathrowAirport just took my pumped breast milk away. 10 ounces. Gone. Not okay.

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 9, 2015

(2 of 2) They said they would let the pumped milk through if I had the baby with me. Why would I need to pump if I had the baby with me????

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 9, 2015

.@HeathrowAirport Why can you test my toiletries to make sure they are safe but you have to throw away my breast milk?

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 9, 2015

Heathrow responded to Alyssa in a tweet that explained how they were bound by their 100ml rule. That’s the blanket rule for all liquids. I’ve been told that Heathrow is strict and doesn’t allow exceptions. The rule is a pain in the butt, but it exists for serious reasons.

Due credit goes out to Alyssa for not pulling any sort of “do you know who I am?” card. She took the discussion to Twitter, not for attention purposes but to start a conversation. Alyssa also issued a statement to People that places her feelings into perspective:

“I realize there are much larger issues going on in the world. And I don’t want to turn this into a bigger issue than it is but I will say this … breastfeeding my children has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Every ounce of milk I’m able to produce for my child is nothing short of a miracle and to watch that milk be thrown away without any regard for my baby, was heartbreaking. It’s not the fault of the security in the airport; they’re following orders to keep us all safe. But I do I feel it is a policy that needs thoughtful reconsideration. I’m glad this has started a dialogue. My only hope is to make things easier for moms, breastfeeding and formula feeding moms, everywhere.”

[From People]

Alyssa’s statement is a good one. She explains why she was so upset. She also made sure to say she didn’t blame the airport’s security staff. Alyssa only wants to open a dialogue. I’m not sure if this incident will change anything. It doesn’t sound like Heathrow was discriminating against breast milk. They simply don’t have the means to efficiently test milk in the security line. The rules apply to all liquids, but I can see why Alyssa was frustrated over losing her milk. The loss felt very personal to her.

Photos courtesy of WENN