Is it plane OK to breast pump on-board?

An American Airlines plane is moved from a gate at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport. Picture: AP

DAWN Brahos,38, was on her way home from a rare weekend away from her children when she decided to plug in and use an electric breast pump on an American Airlines flight.

She told New York Daily News: "I started it off being quiet and discreet, but the flight attendant wasn't discreet at all. She came back three times to my seat and was really loud about it. She was like, 'You absolutely cannot pump.'"

"She was just dismissing any possibility of me resolving my situation. She got angry with me and then wasn't willing to give me her name.

Ms Brahos and her husband travelled from Chicago to San Diego on April 13. On that flight she said she used the Medala branded pump under a blanket without any problems. 

On April 17 the couple boarded a return flight to Chicago. She said flight attendants on that flight were accommodating and allowed her to plug in and pump in the galley area of the plane. 

When bad weather forced the plane to be diverted to Minneapolis, American Airlines booked Ms Brahos and her husband into a hotel overnight. They boarded another flight to Chicago the next day. That's where the trouble occurred. 

Ms Brahos said she was reliant on the breast pump to relieve pressure and keep her milk supply flowing. She is currently breastfeeding her one-year-old son Adrien. During the trip away she was pumping milk out every three and a half hours.

The flight time from Minneapolis is short - only 1 hour and 13 minutes. But Ms Brahos said she couldn't wait. 

She said she was busy before the flight checking out of the hotel, travelling to the airport, checking in and going through security.  

She told the New York Daily news she began to feel "painfully engorged" on the flight. So she pulled out the breast pump. 

She says the female flight attendant called her a liar when she explained that she had used the breast pump twice on previous American Airlines flights without any problems. 

"It was humiliating. She kept saying I had to be mistaken, that it must have been a different airline.

"She was loud and cold and argumentative. At least a third of the plane knew my business. I could see them talking amongst themselves."

American Airlines has offered an apology to Ms Brahos saying Medala-branded breast pumps are allowed to be used during flights. A different brand of pump would have required prior approval.

American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Haguely said: "We apologise for the experience Ms. Brahos had on a recent flight. Our in-flight personnel are trained to handle these situations with professionalism and discretion. American does not have a policy prohibiting the use of breast pumps in-flight."

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