Mum Shamed For Nursing In A Restaurant Stirs Up Breastfeeding In Public Debate. Again.
Another story of a mum feeling shamed for breastfeeding her baby in public has hit the headlines [Photo: Rex Features]
Another day, another mum made to feel she’s boobed for breastfeeding in public.
As any new mum will tell you, when your baby needs feeding, they NEED FEEDING. And if you happen to be having lunch in a restaurant then so be it.
So when Carla Francome’s baby son started grizzling that he was hungry as she dined in a popular pizza chain she thought nothing of lifting her T-Shirt to breastfeed him. That was until she was “reprimanded” for doing so.
The freelance TV producer was feeding six-month-old Archie at La Porchetta in Islington, London when a waiter told her to “fully” cover up or go into a back room.
And the 37-year-old, from Archway, says she was so “mortified” she burst into tears in the middle of the restaurant.
Carla Francome was left feeling ‘mortified’ after being asked to cover up or stop breastfeeding her baby in a pizza restaurant [Photo: Facebook/Carla Francome]
Though Carla usually covers up with a blanket, on this occasion she had started breastfeeding her son without using one because the restaurant was virtually empty and she was only facing the kitchen.
“I was absolutely horrified,” Carla explained. “I was facing a wall and there was only one other family in the restaurant. All the waiting staff were men and I was made to feel like I was doing something wrong, as if I had exposed myself.”
Carla and a friend were told the rules became restaurant policy after a man once complained about a woman breastfeeding in the restaurant.
After trying to feed Archie on a sofa downstairs at the restaurant, Carla then decided to move to another café instead. But the incident left the new mum feeling anxious about breastfeeding in public for weeks afterwards.
“I felt like I never wanted to breastfeed in public again,” she said.
“The only way this is going to get better is if people get used to doing it all the time.”
Breastfeeding in public continues to spark debate [Photo: Rex Features]
A spokeswoman for the chain has since “apologised unreservedly” for the incident.
“I am really disappointed, it is absolutely not our policy. It is very unfortunate,” the spokeswoman told Islington Tribune.
“We can only apologise to this lady. The manager will be disciplined.”
Though women are legally entitled to nurse wherever they like under the 2010 Equality Act, it hasn’t stopped countless women feeling uncomfortable or being asked to stop while doing so in public. And this certainly isn’t the first time the topic has hit the headlines. In 2014, Claridge’s hotel in Mayfair attracted controversy when a mother was asked to place a large napkin over her baby’s head while she breastfed and just last week we reported on a woman being asked to stop nursing her son at the museum her sister’s wedding was being held.
So why is breastfeeding in public still such a big deal? It’s baffling for sure, but while stories of mums feeling shamed for breastfeeding in public continue to make front page news, it’s further proof that society isn’t ready to settle the right or wrong debate just yet. And so it rumbles on…
What do you think about breastfeeding in public? Let us know @YahooStyleUK
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