Waterford - More than a dozen local mothers will join an estimated 3,000 participating today in "nurse-ins" nationwide at Target department stores, bringing attention to the issue of public breast feeding.

The local event, from 10 a.m. to noon inside the local Target store at 900 Hartford Turnpike, is one of more than 240 being held at the department store's branches across the United States in response to an incident in Houston last month in which Target employees reportedly hassled a woman who had been nursing her child in a quiet corner of the women's clothing department.

The woman, Michelle Hickman, told her story to the breastfeeding advocacy group Best for Babes Foundation, and the outcry quickly spurred a Facebook campaign to plan the nurse-in event.

"This is not a boycott," said local nurse-in coordinator Leah Fennell of Colchester. "We just want to raise awareness of women's right to breastfeed and the benefits of breastfeeding."

Fennell said local Target managers are setting up space for the event within the store and that the company's corporate office has policies protecting nursing mothers that were not being followed at the Houston outlet.

"Guests who choose to breast feed in public places in our stores should feel welcome to do so," a Target spokesman told Janice D'Arcy, a Washington Post blogger, last week.

Fennell said 15 to 20 nursing mothers are expected to attend the local event, but others are welcome to join in this morning. Nurse-in participants will hand out information on the benefits of breastfeeding and the laws that encourage babies to be nursed in public places.

According to the nurse-in Facebook page, the Waterford store is the only local Target location where an event is being planned.

l.howard@theday.com

For more information

www.facebook.com/events/281341565250430/

www.facebook.com/groups/208472545898745/