Medical exam mom awarded extra time for breastfeeding “disability”
I’m gonna start calling breastfeeding a “disability” since some lactating women feel they deserve special concessions. I think formula feeding moms should be given extra time to take board tests too. What if the formula fed baby feels slighted and emotionally damaged from someone else giving them a bottle? It just isn’t right. The injustice of it all!
Breastfeeding mothers must be so fragile and physically limited since they cannot even take an exam, so a Judge and an opportunist decided.
Honestly, if Ms. Currier is afforded extra time, so should everybody else, in my opinion:
In overturning a ruling that denied Ms. Currier the additional 60 minutes of break time she requested, Judge Gary Katzmann said yesterday that she needed the extra time so she could be on “equal footing” with men and nonlactating women taking the test.
The medical examining board said that although it planned to appeal, it would give Ms. Currier the additional time if Judge Katzmann’s order is still in effect when she takes the exam, set for next week. She must pass the exam, which tests clinical knowledge, to receive her medical degree. Without it, she cannot start her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In the 26-page ruling, Judge Katzmann said refusing to allow additional time meant that Ms. Currier must choose to either “use her break time to incompletely express breast milk and ignore her bodily functions, or abdicate her decision to express breast milk, resulting in significant pain.”
Information from: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/educat...
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1. Proud Mommy
November 19, 2007 @ 12:20 pm
Have you ever breastfed? Not only are there more feedings required in a 24-hour period than for a formula fed baby, but only one person can administer those feedings. In addition, having over-full breasts is quite painful and can cause sweating, fevers, etc. A breastfeeding mom deserves the extra time because she takes the extra time to feed her baby the most nutritious way. (Apologies to those moms who gave breastfeeding heir best shot and weren’t able to do it…)
2. MT
November 19, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
Well, then, ALL people should get the extra time. I’ll bet there are people taking those tests with far greater “disabilities”, inconveniences and hurdles to overcome.
3. Magoo
January 2, 2009 @ 5:12 pm
Coming from a person with a disability and from a Brestfeeding mom point of view…. If you have a disability that makes you need extra time or help in some form taking a test then you should have the proper paperwork to prove that you need that help… what ever it is… an I would think that in most cases they will give you that help… Now coming from the Brestfeeding point of few…if there is a brake from the test I don’t know why she would need extra time, pumping does not take that long to do… but if there is not then I don’t see any reson why they should not give her the time to do it…
4. Blue
December 17, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
Hey, MT, you do realize that the Americans with Disabilities Act means that people who have medically recognized disabilities have to get extra time if they need it, right? So it’s not like people who have disabilities you consider “real” are being denied the time they need but a breastfeeding mom is being coddled. Who does it hurt to give this woman extra time to get her breastmilk out? Why the venom? Yes, lactating women need “special concessions,” if you begrudge them the time to breastfeed or pump. However, if you see it as a natural part of life being infringed upon by the artificial constraints of modern life, then you might have more empathy for Ms. Currier. The bottle v. breast argument is not relevant unless you have an axe to grind.