"Not every building is suitable for breastfeeding"

[BartletForAmerica]

Apologies for linking to the Daily Mail but I was disappointed to see a councillor supporting the decision to ask a BF woman to leave the council offices where she was going to see the CAB. Unusually and happily, the DM comments are surprisingly supportive!

I've emailed the councillor concerned with this:

Dear Mr Akhtar,

I'd be grateful for clarification regarding your comments in today's Daily Mail. The full article can be found at www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2014222/Breast-feeding-mother-told-leave-council-headquarters-offend-Muslim-visitors.html

The article quotes you as saying, "Not every building is suitable for breast-feeding and that is the case with the very busy, open-plan layout of Access Oldham."

As both a mother who continues to breastfeed her 11 month old son and as a doctor, it would be helpful if you could tell me what buildings are suitable for breastfeeding and what buildings are not.

In my experience, it is possible to breastfeed in any place where both I and my son are present. I was not aware of any other special requirements, but will found your answer educational.

You will, I am sure, be aware of the Equality Act 2010 that made it illegal for anyone to ask a breastfeeding mother to leave a public place, such as a cafe, shop or public transport. Government guidance regarding this can be found at: www.equalities.gov.uk/pdf/401727_GEO-BCC_QuickGuide2_acc.pdf

Nope, not an idiot Titty-

"Last updated at 5:04 AM on 14th July 2011"

Looks like they've tweaked it a bit and removed some of the quotes. It said something about the building being open-plan and therefore unsuitable for breastfeeding.

Thanks EauRouge, I must have read that article about 20 times but couldn't really see anything wrong with what the Cllr himself said. Although the receptionist/manager were of course completely out of order and need some training. Interesting they are so concerned about offending some people (although unecessarily I think as bf is the norm in many Muslim societies) but without considering they might actually be offending the mother herself by suggetsing she feed in the toilet.

Had to restrain myself from commenting on the DM site in response to a particularly enlightneded poster who suggested the baby looked like bm would not be enough and was ready for baby food!

Erm...agree what happened to this woman was crap but did anyone actually read the article properly? Cllr aktar said that the way she had been treated was wrong and staff would be trained!

Argh, I just saw that comment. It does cheer me up that everyone has rated it badly though.

AnyFuleKno- that's not what he said yesterday, they've changed the article. He's obviously changed his mind!

Brilliant comment here:

"How silly, I am a muslim mother of 2 and I live
in a muslim country and we breast feed in
public. It's encouraged because its natural and
most importantly best for the baby . To maintain
modesty we will usually find a quiet corner and
a small blanket will do wonders for a bit more
privacy. If men see us breast feeding, they will
be polite and not gawk, after all the mother
child relationship is one of the most precious
and should be held in high respect. I am amazed
at how over PC your country is getting and
usually to the benefit of everyone else but
yourselves. The UK used to be a country I
admired but nowadays , the celebrity culture
and values you promote.. .well I wouldn' t want
my kids growing up . I know the country is still
filled with 'quality ' people but why are the
'chavs ' getting all the spotlight ?"

And surely the only "unsuitable building" is the toilet they recommended?!

Why is BF such an issue?

I've breast fed my DDs (including both at once) in front of plenty of muslim men and women and no one has ever said anything but 'aaaaaah' and offered to either run after the eldest for me, or to fetch me a drink.

Much more to do with twattishness than anything else.

The X-Men have a training facility called the Danger Room full of traps, flamethrowers, automatic weapons, etc. That's probably unsuitable for breastfeeding...

Decompression chamber?

I can't believe they've changed the article, very sneeky!
Rooms unsuitable for feeding (note not just breastfeeding): boiler room-too sweaty, gas chamber-too gassy, ermmmm..., room in a nuclear power plant-too radioactive, really struggling now.
However, Cllr Akhtar's office on the other hand sounds like a great place to feed.
My Dad's a councillor, maybe I'll go into the Council House with him and feed to see what the reaction is there.

That is very sneaky, but I am very glad to see that his comments have been retracted. I think their legal team have realised that someone has messed up.

What a pillock!

Mosh pit. Too moshy. Hadron collider. Too collidy (collidey?). Erm... Abattoir. Too deathy.

"Secondtimelucky Wed 13-Jul-11 14:26:11
I'm trying really hard to think of a building that might not be suitable for breastfeeding in..."
Spaceship orbiting the earth? Think it would be difficult to get good positioning at zero gravity

These unsuitable building suggestions are cracking me up. I'd give the spaceship a go though... shall we see if we can arrange a sit/float-in?

Hi, found this site while googling this story. Just amazing, these people work for us and they cant even follow their own guidelines!

I think it will take an avalanche of emails to persuade him that public opinion is not as he sees it - that breast feeding isn't a dirty thing that may upset some of his constitutes that are stuck in the stone age. My kids come first sorry.

[email protected]

I will be emailing every day until I get a decent reply - please do the same!

What exactly is wrong with what this councillor has said that means he deserves a barrage of emails?

"Last night councillor Shoab Akhtar, of Oldham Council, said: ?We fully support the right of mothers to breastfeed their children and actively encourage it due to the long-term health benefits it provides.

?Mrs Mitchell?s disappointing experience has highlighted the need to make all our staff fully aware of our policy and our legal requirements.

?Staff will be trained in the coming days to ensure this never happens again, and we will be contacting Mrs Mitchell to apologise.

?Staff should make every reasonable effort to assist a mother?s need to breastfeed, whether she requests the use of a private room or otherwise.?"

This is the Daily Mail stirring it. The mother had a bad experience. It is being addressed.

tiktok, they've completely changed the article. None of those quotes were in the original article. He said something along the lines of; "this building is open plan with no cubby holes and so is not suitable for breastfeeding...Not all buildings are suitable for breastfeeding in...The building is a multicltural place and breastfeeding may offend some". Things like that are why he needs to realise he is offensive.

And I think it was him who said "you absolutely cannot do that in here". I can't believe how many times they've edited the article since it was published. They've even taken out that she was using their computer to search for a babysitter and now say she was asking about babysitters.

tiktok, they've edited the article & the councillor retracted what he said when he was presumably advised that he was acting illegally. Not to mention being an arse. (That last bit I added myself.)

Or the alternative explanation is that the Mail got those original quotes wrong....and they have had to agree to put the correct ones in.

The Mail would not be likely to correct just because someone said to them 'I have changed my mind about what I said'.

Unfortunately I didn't save a copy of the original article, but managed to find bits somewhere else.

It read, "Labour Councillor Shoab Akhtar said Oldham Council supports the right of mothers to breastfeed their children and actively supports it due to the long-term health benefits it provides.

But he added: ?Unfortunately there are no breast-feeding facilities available at Access Oldham based at the Civic Centre nor are there any public toilets or baby changing facilities.

?There is no requirement to provide such facilities at Access Oldham and we are committed to make the best use of the limited space that is available to provide facilities and meeting rooms where we can deal with issues that affect local residents quickly and effectively.

?Not every building is suitable for breast-feeding and that is the case with the very busy, open-plan layout of Access Oldham.?

Here is the original article in the local paper, with the offending quote standing:

www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/8/news-headlines/58473/breast-is-best-but-not-in-here

www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/8/news-headlines/58473/breast-is-best-but-not-in-here

I imagine if he had been misquoted, it would have been corrected there as well.

BF facility = a chair, surely?