Lactivists Fight for the Right to Breastfeed

America has been swept by an unusual protest movement. It is called lactivism and involves hundreds of women taking to the check-in counters of US airports to demonstrate the right to breastfeed their babies.

About 900 breastfeeding women demonstrated at 35 US airports on Tuesday outside check-in counters for Delta, one of the biggest domestic carriers. Groups of 30 or more women assembled by the counters, sat in a circle and began nursing their babies, some wearing "Got breastmilk?" T-shirts and their children in ones saying "Smart, cute and healthy. Thanks to Mom's milk."

The nurse-in, as it was dubbed, followed an incident on a Delta flight from Burlington, Vermont, to New York on October 13, the details of which have been passed around women's groups over the internet. Emily Gillette, 27, and her husband were seated at the back of a commuter plane when she began breastfeeding her daughter as they waited to take off. A flight attendant came up to her and offered her a blanket to cover herself and when she declined the attendant said: "You are offending me."

Delta ground staff were called and the family were asked to leave the plane. The incident provoked anger among internet groups and the plan for the protest action was hatched.

There are 12 states in America where the law concerning the right of women to breastfeed in public is unclear but Delta apologised for the incident, saying it had reprimanded the flight attendant.

"Delta fully supports a woman's right to breast-feed her baby on board our aircraft," a spokeswoman for the airline told the LA Times.