Joan Lunden Says She Lactated During a Live Interview on “Good Morning America” as a Breastfeeding New Mom
Joan Lunden Says She Lactated During a Live Interview on “Good Morning America” as a Breastfeeding New Mom
Virginia ChamleeWed, March 4, 2026 at 5:19 PM UTC
0
Joan LundenCredit: Ida Mae Astute/Disney; the view -
Joan Lunden is sharing how she once lactated during a live television interview in her early days on Good Morning America
Lunden worked as a co-anchor on GMA for 17 years
In her new memoir, she recounts those early days as well as other highlights from her career
Joan Lunden says she once lactated during a live television interview in her early days on Good Morning America.
In an appearance on the Tuesday, Mar. 3 episode of The View, Lunden, 75, noted that she took the job of GMA anchor in 1979, after negotiating a contract that would allow her to bring her newborn daughter with her anywhere in the world so that she could breastfeed.
"Okay so now they have all these fancy breast pumps," Lunden said. "They didn't have so much of that in 1979."
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Joan Lunden on GMACredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
But breastfeeding as a working mom, she adds, came with challenges.
In her new memoir, Joan: Life Beyond the Script, Lunden elaborates on the incident, writing, "The GMA staff used to joke that I would start Good Morning America each day as Joan Lunden, but I’d always end the show as Dolly Parton. I’ll give you a minute to let that visual settle in your brain."
Advertisement
At the time, she writes, "you couldn’t even say the word 'breastfeeding' on television."
"I’ll never forget one morning when I was interviewing a US senator about then-president Ronald Reagan’s 'trickle-down economics,' " she continues. "You may remember that theory, but what I remember about that interview is that suddenly I was experiencing inflation and 'trickle down' firsthand. It was time for baby Jamie to feed, and my boobs knew it."
Noting that she was wearing a silk printed blouse at the time, Lunden writes, "the camera didn’t really see it, thank God, but I did need to have my hairdresser run into the studio during the commercial with his hair dryer to dry me off."
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
"As they say, the show must go on. It was one of the first times when I had to make some quick decisions about how to handle the juggling act," she continues. "In the end, the producers, who cared only that we were in the middle of a live national broadcast, had a good laugh with me about it and were completely supportive — and I think that’s because I weathered it with a sense of humor. I dried off, kept smiling, and kept going."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
