Long Post - but please tell me what you think

[BlueberryPancake]

This morning, I was breastfeeding in a hospital's waiting room and was asked to move to another location so that I could be 'more comfortable and discreet'. Here's my complaint letter, please let me know what you think.

Cheers!!

BP

The Manager
The Fracture and Orthopaedic Clinic
Whipps Cross Road
Leytonstone
London
E11 1NR

Friday, 25th May 2007

Dear Manager,

I attended the Fracture and Orthopeadic Clinic on the 25th May at 9.05 with my two children, NAME 19 months old and NAME 4 weeks old.

Whilst waiting in the main waiting area, close to the reception of the Orthopaedic Clinic, my youngest son was hungry and I breastfed him. A member of your staff approached me and asked me politely to move to another area (to the main hall, or the garden) so that I could 'you know, do this discretely and be more comfortable'.

I didn't react to this demand, and moved to the garden, but in retrospect I should have said to her there and then that I have every right to breastfeed at any location of my choice, and I am comfortable with breastfeeding anywhere. As far as I could tell I was very discrete, and there was no reason to be asked to move. I would like to know if any patients in the waiting room had complained, or if it was members of the staff who were uncomfortable with me breastfeeding.

I would like you to remind your staff that every women has the right to feed her child at any place she wants to ? or has to. Let me ask you this question: would I have been asked to move if I would have been giving my son a bottle?

Please do take this letter seriously, as some mums would have been very offended by the actions of your staff member, and indeed might have lost the confidence to breastfeed in public.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, on .

Kind regards

CC. The Complaints Manager

Good letter.

'discreetly'/'discreet' rather than 'discretely'/'discrete'.

Ask them whether they are part of the UNICEF breast-friendly initiative (someone who knows the proper title will be along, I'm sure) - this would be TOTALLY against that accreditation.

A 4-week-old baby! FGS. They're lucky you don't set fire to the place. Let us know if you want us to sign a round-robin...

I'd copy it to the head of the Trust as well.

Whipps X, eh? I gave birth there and had a rubbish time of it. I wrote a letter to the head of midwifery and never heard a thing back. It may be helpful to get a name to make sure it gets to the right person.

One teeny change I'd make: "would I have been asked to move if i had been giving my son a bottle?"

OK good letter.
this is what I would recommend:

find out the name of the person to write to: phone the switchboard and ask for the name and job title of the person who deals with complaints about members of staff.

and send a copy to the head of the Trust.
and if you can bear it, call the local paper...

I quite liked the '......giving my son a bottle' bit. I think its a good point.

I think your letter is brill - there are just a couple of tiny typos which I have highlighted below.

I would go further and say how it made you feel (eg ashamed/angry/inconvenienced). It sounds as if you didn't mind being moved.

I think the initiative Rowan mentions is called being a Baby-Friendly Hospital. If they are, they have to have a written breastfeeding policy communicated to all staff. You could ask whether they have such a policy and what it has to say regarding interrupting a mother feeding her child to ask her to move to another location.

The Manager
The Fracture and Orthopaedic Clinic
Whipps Cross Road
Leytonstone
London
E11 1NR

Friday, 25th May 2007

Dear Manager,

I attended the Fracture and Orthopaedic Clinic on the 25th May at 9.05 with my two children, NAME 19 months old and NAME 4 weeks old.

Whilst waiting in the main waiting area, close to the reception of the Orthopaedic Clinic, my youngest son was hungry and I breastfed him. A member of your staff approached me and asked me politely to move to another area (to the main hall, or the garden) so that I could 'you know, do this discreetly and be more comfortable'.

I didn't react to this demand, and moved to the garden, but in retrospect I should have said to her there and then that I have every right to breastfeed at any location of my choice, and I am comfortable with breastfeeding anywhere. As far as I could tell I was very discreet, and there was no reason to be asked to move. I would like to know if any patients in the waiting room had complained, or if it was members of the staff who were uncomfortable with me breastfeeding.

I would like you to remind your staff that every women has the right to feed her child at any place she wants to ? or has to. Let me ask you this question: would I have been asked to move if I had been giving my son a bottle?

Please do take this letter seriously, as some mums would have been very offended by the actions of your staff member, and indeed might have lost the confidence to breastfeed in public.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, on .

Kind regards

CC. The Complaints Manager

I think that the key point is that this is a hospital. Of all places to discourage breastfeeding one would hope that a hospital would be the last place. Is it possible to forward it to maternity as well as I doubt they would be impressed?

Good letter - send a copy to the director of midwifery and the chief exec of the PCT. If Whipps X is Baby Friendly, let BF know.

And yes, let the local paper know, too, if you don't mind being in it.

I also suggest you take out any mention of yourself being discreet. You don't have to argue you were being discreet; you can sit there with your top off, if you need to.

You don't need to defend yourself on the grounds that you were discreet.

Go girl