Asked to leave whilst breastfeeding...

[Cuddlesinafort]

What's the best response to this?

It happened today and ended in an argument.

Where and who by?

Leave and never go back. Name and shame if applicable.

Afaik under 6 months bf protected by law?

In somebody's house? Difficult one.

If in a public place you're surely covered by law!

Depends where you were and who asked and why tbh

Against the law if under 6 months.

I was (rather randomly) in an amusements on Bournemouth seafront. We had gone to see the airshow. Baby was asleep in shaded buggy whilst toddler played with bucket and spade, baby woke up and was hungry but there was very little shade. I was hoping he'd sleep longer as the plan was to head up into the town for a coffee and somewhere to feed him but his feeding is still a little all over the place at the moment.

So I leave dh on beach with ds1 and head into the amusements. 5 mins into the feed approached by a member of staff and asked to leave. I said I wasn't going to leave. I said that if they had somewhere more comfortable I would happily go and feed there. He said they had no where for me and suggested I go to the baby change facility in the beach toilets.

Our 'discussion' went on for sometime and ended with him accusing me of blocking a fire exit and me suggesting they ring the local police and tell them they have a breastfeeding mother who refuses to move.

Eventually another member of staff came who said they'd give me the benefit of the doubt (?) and allow me to stay.

Unfortunately dh was oblivious to it all and it was quite intimidating, having two male members of staff stood over me.

Ds2 is five weeks old.

Were you near a fire exit?

(I definitely wasn't blocking a fire exit)

No, no fire exit, and I did offer to move somewhere else inside.

Shocking- this has been law for ages. Poor you

:(

It's not legal for them to ask you to stop or leave.

I don't know if you (or your husband) feel like kicking up a fuss about it, but you'd be well within what's ok to do that.

Bastards.

Shocking.

Could it have been because it was clear you only came in for the shade/somewhere to sit and were not a customer, ie had not been using the amusements? < hopeful >

For example, if it rained, if a family came in for shelter and ate their picnic in the amusements without actually playing on anything, the staff would be within their rights surely to ask them to leave.

It's a difficult one as I'd like to think that no one would ask a breastfeeding mother to leave anywhere, but I wonder if that was their reasoning.

Oh the staff at Bournemouth amusements are knob jockeys anyway so this doesn't surprise me! I actually won a Tigger on one of the grabby machines last year and 10 minutes later was hauled into an office and accused of somehow stealing it! It was really scary and went on for twenty minutes until they watched the CCTV back and saw me actually winning it!

You can feed any where you damn well like.

What wank badgers.

I suspect they don't know the law.

Contact the NCT and let them know. They will follow up with the venue so it doesn't happen again. Hate hearing stories like this, it's ridiculous that bf women are treated like this!

I would kick up such a fuss about this. FB, twitter. Name and shame. Bf is protected (by law in Scotland, sorry I'm not 100% sure on the legislation in England, but it is protected maybe under the equalities act??) and they clealy don't know that I this instance.

How intimidating for you op, I'm sorry this happened.

Yes, it is under the 2010 equality act. It has been linked to on previous similar threads but I'm sure it could be googled. They can't legally ask you to move if the Bfing is the only reason for doing so. So if you were blocking a fire exit, or were somewhere unsafe, they'd be within their rights. As it was, they acted illegally. I'd write and tell them so.

Thanks for all your replies. It's nice to read them.

I thought it was protected by law, but wasn't sure.

BalloonSlayer - I did wonder this.

Am I still in the right if I just go in somewhere to feed and I'm not a customer?

Also, if somewhere asks me to move from where I am to somewhere else within the premises, like a backroom, do I have to?

I did want to write a letter but in reality it'd probably just be another one of those things I'd like to do but would never get round to so involving the local NCT is a great idea.

Breastfeeding is protected by law no mater what age your baby/child is. Under the Equality Act (2000) he is breaking the law by asking you to stop or move (unless they is an issue with health and safety). Tell him to call the police and to bugger off

You can feed anywhere the public are allowed to be, and you don't have to move to another area if asked by staff. This is all under the Equalities Act in England. There are one or two exceptions to do with health and safety eg to do with feeding near dangerous chemicals or radiation, or if you were somewhere clearly unsafe.

Unfortunately the police won't be able to do anything as it's not an arrestable offence in England. You would have to deal with it as a civil matter and take them court for discriminating against you as a breastfeeding woman.