My first interaction with Jessica of the Leaky Boob was when I submitted a blog for her breastfeeding carnival.  I was at a wedding, using a friend's laptop to communicate with her.  It was harried and confusing, yet she was incredibly forgiving, warm, funny and sweet.  She very gently steered me towards a more personal article than the one I was planning on submitting, which resulted in one of my better pieces of writing.  I continued keeping in touch with her and found her so encouraging of my artwork.  She seems to share my desire to represent all women, regardless of background, parenting approach and shortcomings.  In many ways she is my inspiration.  I consider her a better person than I am.  She is more patient and forgiving, and more likely to be amused than angry.  I strive to treat people the way she does.

Then Sunday morning she awoke to discover that her Facebook Page: The Leaky Boob, had been removed.  She was given the statement that her page violated Facebook's terms of use, a vague and incomplete statement at best.  She was told:

"Your Page 'The Leaky B@@b' has been removed for violating our Terms of Use. A Facebook Page is a distinct presence used solely for business or promotional purposes. Among other things, Pages that are hateful, threatening, or obscene are not allowed. We also take down Pages that attack an individual or group, or that are set up by an unauthorized individual. If your Page was removed for any of the above reasons, it will not be reinstated. Continued misuse of Facebook's features could result in the permanent loss of your account."

I personally had spent a lot of time on The Leaky Boob fansite.  I was just in the process of giving advice to a new mother who feared she was not producing enough milk when it was deleted.  Now I have no memory of the mother's name, no idea how to get in touch with her and tell her not to worry... if her baby is gaining weight she's probably fine.  This to me is a violation of OUR rights, that such a useful and decent page could be deleted without warning.  I have never known The Leaky Boob to be anything but a place of gentleness, solidarity, good humour and helpful advice.  Jessica was never one to judge another person, so how DARE she be judged in this way?  Obscene?  Give me a break.

Since I wrote this article the Leaky Boob was re-instated as a Facebook page, then about an hour ago it was removed again, as well as the Bring Back the Leaky Boob page that rallied so much support.  Once again we need to rally together, notify news agencies if you can, get all the support you can, and once again we need to Bring Back the Leaky Boob- Again.  Please join.  I feel this is an important issue for all mothers regardless of parenting habits.  We need to make sure breastfeeding advice is accessable and not discriminated against in this manner.