Mothers across the country sent out a message to the Canadian public today: don't force moms to use bathrooms when breastfeeding their babies.

"I've never been in a bathroom where I'd want to eat lunch, particularly,'' Frances Jones of the Quintessence Foundation told The Canadian Press.

The foundation was behind the "breastfeeding challenge," an annual event that tries to make breastfeeding more socially acceptable.

Jones said that she finds it ironic that most people have accepted barely-dressed women in beer ads, but some people still get upset when a mother feeds her baby in public.

She said that it's not fair that mothers sometimes feel that they have to go into places like bathroom stalls to feed their babies.

"We're very confused about form versus function when it comes to the human breast,'' Jones said.

Jack Newman, who runs a breast clinic in Toronto, said that the government needs to help. He said his clinic, which gives information to mothers about proper ways to breastfeed and helps moms and babies who may be having difficulties, is running on donations. To help more moms it needs government support.

"Women are not getting the support they need to breastfeed. They are quitting when they don't have to," he said.

Jones said she hopes events like today's challenge, which took place in cities such as Toronton, Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal and other North American cities, will raise awareness of the issue so that breastfeeding out in the open will be seen as normal and become more acceptable.