Originally Posted by
thegeneral
The woman still has the breasts and they contain milk no? Why would she bother with this and not just breast feed on the plane? She could easily pack a shawl so it would be a private affair.
You must not have read the original story.
This is a nursing mom who travels on business, WITHOUT her baby. A breastfeeding mom must feed the baby, or use a breastpump, 3-4 times a day to maintain her milk supply and avoid painful engorgement and possible breast infections. Therefore, she's using a breastpump while travelling, and wants to bring the expressed milk back home to her baby.
This isn't an issue of 'nursing in public'. It's whether a nursing mom can transport liquids (breastmilk) when the baby is not with her. TSA rules don't allow carryon of the volume of liquids that are usually produced by a lactating mom. (One pumping session usually creates more milk than would fit in 3 oz containers in a 1 quart bag). This situation (according to the story), the mom tried to carry the milk in a bag larger than 3oz, even though it only contained 3oz of liquid.
Current TSA rules allow the nursing mom to carry0on expressed milk ONLY if the baby is travelling with her. Of course, the irony here is that if baby is travelling, mom wouldn't need the stupid pump - she could feed directly. We'd all love the luxury of travelling with our babies but that's generally not feasible on business trips.