King County Journal, Saturday, July 23, 2005

Auburn mother's nursing shawl a hit By Mary Swift

Auburn – Her son Anthony is 4 years old now, but Joanne Gonzales remembers how inconvenient life sometimes got back when she was a nursing mom.

“You’d be out at a restaurant,” Gonzales said. “You have a crying baby and you know nursing will make the crying stop. You’re faced with a dilemma: “Do I get up and go out to the car? Do I nurse here? What happens if the blanket I’m using to cover myself falls off? Am I going to be exposed to the waiter?”

Gonzales’ sister-in-law, Marie Wakefield, a naturopathic physician who is the mother of a 1-year old, knew the same concerns.

A year ago, the two Auburn women sat down and began working on the design for a nursing shawl that would be light, attractive, functional and provide secure coverage. First stop: a shop in Federal Way where both women took a sewing class.

Wakefield’s mother, Donna McComb, of Arizona, pitched in to help with the project. Working from home, the trio cut and altered patterns until they had what they wanted: a nursing shawl they call the NursEase. Styled like a skirt with an elastic waist, it’s designed to fit over one shoulder and under the other arm, leaving that arm free.

A month ago, the women, who call their business “Bellies and Beyond,” began selling the NursEase. The product is sold at Birth and Beyond stores in Seattle and Issaquah and online at www.bellies-beyond.com. “We thought we were just going to be selling them as baby shower gifts,” said Gonzales, a former teacher. “Once we started making them, we were surprised by the number of moms who want them. We’ve been inundated with orders.” In fact, she says, the company has already sold 150 of the shawls. “There’s so much demand that we’ve turned over manufacturing to a local company,” she said.

Gonzales said friends keep telling her they’re putting the product on the market at the perfect time, given a recent uproar sparked by a comment from ABC’s Barbara Walters and fueled locally by a commentary by KOMO-TV’s Ken Schram saying he didn’t like seeing women nurse in public.

“We’re not behind Ken saying, “Yes, women, cover up,” Gonzales said. “We completely support women breast-feeding in public whenever they need to. This is for the woman who wants privacy if she breast-feeds in public.

“The way we feel about things, we’re for anything that encourages breast-feeding.”