Westfield Marion Boobfest Protest!

THE black T-shirt said it all: ``I make milk.’’

The message was printed across the chest of Lindsay Giannakos, one of a dozen people who gathered at Westfield Marion today (September 5) to protest against the humiliation of young mother Sharleen Salmon.

Ms Salmon was last month followed and questioned by centre security and police after a woman and a female cleaner complained about her using the parents’ room to express breast milk for her five-month-old daughter, Justice.

Ms Salmon’s treatment was ``unbelievable’’, according to Mrs Giannakos, a project officer with Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Accreditation, an initiative of the Australian Breastfeeding Association.

The protestors held banners and posters displaying such catchcries as ``Breast milk worth bottling’’; ``Pumping breast milk isn’t a crime’’ and ``Breast is best bottled or not’’, as well as handing out pamphlets about the benefits of breastfeeding.

Protest coordinator Katherine Matthews, of Australia’s home birth network Joyous Birth, said it was important to support breastfeeding mothers.

``Breastfeeding is natural and completely normal,’’ Ms Matthew said.

``It’s nothing to be ashamed of and we hope this will help spread the word.’’

Grant Horsfall and his wife Julie made the trip from Gumeracha, in the Adelaide Hills, to show their support.

``The potential trauma that that young mum could experience as a result of the way she
was treated is frightening,’’ Mr Horsfall said.