Isn’t it interesting that Meredith Viera, co-host of The View (with Barbara Walters, Starr Jones and others) was hired and then fired from "60-Minutes" years ago because of work/family issues?

In a book called: Divided Lives: The Public and Private Struggles of Three Accomplished Women published by Simon & Schuster (New York) in 1995, the author, Elsa Walsh writes about Meredith Viera’s struggle to hang on to her high profile, highly paid job as a 60-minute correspondent while struggling through a high risk pregnancy.

"The measures established to prevent previous miscarriages and accommodate her medical needs eventually lead to friction and discord among co-workers and staff. As the following anecdote demonstrates, Meredith refuses to separate her roles as journalist and mother. When the baby is born and salary negotiations begin, Meredith brings her infant son to the Tavern on the Green lunch meeting so that she can nurse the baby on demand. The executives are flabbergasted by her behavior and by her announcement that she intends to become pregnant again," writes  Literature, Medicine and Arts Database.

I’m sure Meredith Viera can relate to R.’s need to breastfeed her 2-month old baby on the New York/DC shuttle (after an 18-hour flight from South Africa). Meredith V. can probably also relate to R, a hardworking woman with a high profile job at the World Bank, who is intent on balancing a career with motherhood.

It sounds like the World Bank is far more tolerant of a working mother’s need to pump breast milk at the office. As R. said in the OTBKB interview, her husband brings the baby  to the office for a feeding.

It’s quite heroic the lengths women go to provide their children with the nutrition and emotional sustenance that breastfeeding provides.

I’m sure Meredith Viera can relate to that.