An Icelandic lawmaker spoke in parliament while breastfeeding her six-week-old baby in what she described as ‘the most natural thing in the world.’ The image shows Filipino mothers participating in an event to promost breastfeeding. INQUIRER FILE
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — An Icelandic deputy spoke in parliament on Wednesday while breastfeeding her baby daughter in the full glare of live television cameras, an act she described as “the most natural thing in the world”.
Unnur Bra Konradsdottir, of the right wing Independence Party, stood to make her comments in the Althingi (parliament) while feeding the six-week old girl.
“She wasn’t disturbed,” Konradsdottir told AFP later.
“On the contrary, she would have been bothered if I had stopped feeding her to speak,” the mother-of-three added.
“It’s like any job, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” she said.
Icelandic media confirmed that this was a first for the country which is at the forefront of gender equality and gave the world, in 1980, the first democratically elected female head of state, Vigdis Finnbogadottir.
The deputy said the rigors and responsibilities of political life did not alter her duties as a mother.
“It’s like any job, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” she said.
Breastfeeding in public has become a hot topic in many countries. For the Icelandic MP, however, “it is the most natural thing in the world”.
Elected to parliament in 2009, Konradsdottir is a member of its social protection committee and heads the committee on school affairs. CBB