New Gov Poilcy: Breastfeeders get a private area to feed at Service Stations!

[Poohbah]

Obviously, someone in government is listening!

All motorway service stations are to have private free access to breastfeeding areas!

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Highlander my feeling exactly! They should be the ones that move not us.

and hand out blindfolds instead of 'hooter hiders', perhaps?

IMO, It's a good thing, for those who don't wish to feed in 'public' as such, but I probably wouldn't use it, unless it was really comfy and had refreshments

LadySanders, he may have just been trying to make conversation and lighten up the situation, maybe he didnt realise what he'd said. But at least he wasnt nasty or rude to you. I always smile to myself whenever i see a mum bf, there baby, i think its fantastic!

In Scotland it is illegal to stop someone breastfeeding www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2005/asp_20050001_en_1

I was a little funny when i first started bf but i think you get used to it and become much less shy as time goes by and you cant actually see that much when your feeding a baby anyway. I have bf 4 now and id do it anywhere now, even on the bus, sat on a bench in town..im just not bothered!

ffs here it is

bitcat, i wasn't offended, was just that i felt a bit like a seaside attraction or something... actually i seem to have wound up doing more b/f in public with ds2 - including in a service station car park this weekend! - than i did with ds1 7 years ago, and have to say haven't had any negative reaction from anyone which is encouraging.

nervousal, that is how it should be here, perhaps we should put together a petition and send it to government so that we here in england/wales/ireland can have same!
If we can get some support groups to help..i mean it worked for the anti-smokers didnt it.

Actually lots of people (mostly old ladies) have said 'oh I wish I was her!' to me re dd - normally I presumed it was in relation to being snuggled in the sling / tucked up in the pram / fast asleep at 11am etc. I think you took the right line.

I try to be particularly tolerant of old people around dd after someone burst into tears in the post office and told me her dd and son-in-law had gone to live in Australia and she hadn't seen her grandson (now 11 or something) since he was dd's age .

Ewww LadySanders, what a creep.

The potential problem with this is that, once these areas are set up, mambers of the public and/or service station staff might start trying to send all bf-ers to these areas - 'Excuse me, didn't you know there's a private area for that?' - and before you know it we'll be segregated into some dank area that smells of soiled nappies, and where the dirty crockery is never removed.

I don't mind it as an idea - I'm sure there are some women who much prefer to feed in private - so long as ALL staff are made FULLY aware that bf-ing mothers are perfectly entitled to feed anywhere they choose (except perhaps under the manager's desk).

Do you think there is a risk that people will be asked to use the designated facilities rather than feed their babies where they want? The only time I was ever asked to "find somewhere more private" was in a cafe I was able to point out that I was a visitor in their town and there didn't seem to be anywhere more private. So after thinking and failing to come up with anywhere, they let me be. And an old lady bought me a cake .

Good grief - how long did it take me type all that?

lol OBM at scented panty liners.

LadySanders i havent had any negative reactions either but i do know people that have. We had something in the local paper not long ago where a young mum was told off by an old lady, who was sat next to her as she was feeding her baby!
I think you do just get used to doing it in public after a while! Especially second/third time around.

Wot Policywonk said.

As long as it is used as something that is for bfing mothers how feel uncomfortable and not to push us away into a corner.

To all of you who think its a bad thing, what about for those of us who dislike feeding in public?

I have fed in public when i have had no alternative, but i hate it!

I totally agree that it should never be suggested that a breastfeeding mother should be asked to move from where she is feeding and go to a segregated area, and no-one should ever be told to stop, but please spare a thought for those who are uncomfortable feeding in public.

As for "growing a backbone" - i wish i could.
I have nothing but admiration for breastfeeding mums who feed anywhere they like, but i'm so ashamed of my body (and i struggle to remain discreet) that i really can't bring myself to do it. I think comments like "grow a backbone" are very unkind. Maybe true ...but unkind.

bluenose i have no problem with that and we are all different and yes there should be somewhere for those who dont wish to feed in public.
The very fact that you are bf your baby is fantastic, and you should feel very proud..its a shame you feel that way but thats fine!
I dont think anyone ment any offense by it either sorry if anything i said offended you!
I think most of us just feel that, the rest of population would see this as a reason to push bf into a corner! Nothing against you at all

I think that the provision may help mothers who find public breastfeeding difficult. But I would hope so much that there being private areas would not result in breastfeeding mothers feeling obliged to use them if they don't want to.

Personally I never ever used breastfeeding rooms. Usually a windowless cupboard with stinky nappies and horrible lighting. I fed where I wanted and never received any adverse comments (or maybe I did but I just didn't notice or care).

So by all means provide separate areas for feeding mothers, but as a means to introduce a social apartheid where all berastfeeding mothers need to be squirreled away.

At the same time, why on earth do we not have the statutory protection in England that exists in Scotland. Make it illegal to interfere with a breast feeding mother.

Surely the best way forward would be to have a 'quiet' room, for either FF or BF that was seperate from the dirty smelly changing room people are usually expected to go into.

The staff should then be taught to say to any mothers feeding their baby 'There is a quiet room available to feed your baby, if you wish to use it let me know and I'll get someone to show you where' that way it isnt implying that mothers have to leave, just that there is a facility if desired. Or maybe better not even mention it, just have big posters around saying that it is available.

Fio fio
And sometimes feeds take soooo long, you just have to have a magazine to read. Of course it's a pain that you can't hang out with the other dcs and your dh, but needs must and everything.

I think this is a bad idea. Woken should not be shut away to bf like they're doing something weird.
The more people see women bfing, the more 'normal' and acceptable it will become in society.
When I was a child, I thought bfing was weird and disgusting, because I'd only ever seen mone woman do it and she was a hippy earth mother type.
It's only as i got older and saw more people do it that I thought 'hang on, it's perfectly normal'.