Bottle feeding mum asked to leave breast feeding cafe

[Dawnybabe]

In my local paper, the Eastern Daily Press, of Norfolk, they ran a story about a mum who had, through a friend, been asked by a member of staff at a PCT run breast feeding cafe not to return because she had bottle fed her four month old son. Please tell me I'm not the only one absolutely incandescant with rage over this? Apparently she had a medical reason for bottle feeding as well. Aren't the staff being as bigoted as the general public who force the need for a breast feeding cafe in the first place? Surely the attitude should be that you are safe to feed there however you like without any prejudice? There is enough pressure and guilt forced on bottle feeding mums as it is without staff who should know better joining in the witch hunt.

Was it a Baby Cafe?

Was it a Baby Cafe?

Whoops.

By focusing resources on the support of mothers already breastfeeding, enabling them to overcome any difficulties and enjoy a satisfying breastfeeding relationship with their babies for as long as they wish, Baby Café centres will be creating a growing pool of mothers in their community who are able to promote a positive view of breastfeeding amongst their peers and relatives. We believe this is a more effective way to influence artificial-feeding mothers' future feeding choices than an open invitation to all to use the drop-in. Mothers who are really interested in breastfeeding second time around will find help when they feel ready.

If a Baby Café breastfeeding drop-in centre is set up, launched and promoted as set out in our guidelines there is usually no ambiguity to the mothers that it is a service offering breastfeeding support and they will choose to come if they need breastfeeding support in its widest sense.

When mothers not requiring support with breastfeeding turn up to a Baby Café drop-in session they are made to feel welcome, given a cup of coffee and any other information they require. Generally they then go elsewhere to get the kind of postnatal support they are seeking.

That's from the site I linked to.

from 'baby cafe' site

"If a Baby Café breastfeeding drop-in centre is set up, launched and promoted as set out in our guidelines there is usually no ambiguity to the mothers that it is a service offering breastfeeding support and they will choose to come if they need breastfeeding support in its widest sense.

When mothers not requiring support with breastfeeding turn up to a Baby Café drop-in session they are made to feel welcome, given a cup of coffee and any other information they require. Generally they then go elsewhere to get the kind of postnatal support they are seeking."

sorry x post.

from baby cafe q&a's
Q. Do Baby Café centres support mothers who feed their babies artificial formula milk?

The Baby Café Charitable Trust is a registered charity that supports, promotes and protects breastfeeding mothers. This encompasses the full range of breastfeeding experiences including exclusive breastfeeding, combining breastfeeding with complementary foods, managing breastfeeding and baby's night time needs, starting/stopping, expressing for a premature or ill baby, combining breastfeeding with formula feeding, breastfeeding an adoptive baby, continuing to breastfeed while returning to work and more.

thats a no then!

'...made to feel welcome'

And then black-balled behind their backs.

Not somewhere I would bother going back to.

She wasn't asked to leave.

She was asked not to return.

Which is different, imo.

And as for being "safe to feed however you like" - if it was a Baby Cafe, they're often set up with limited funds and getting any kind of funding for bf promotion is like finding hens teeth dipped in lark vomit, so I can understand not wanting it to become somewhere that lots of mums who are ffeeding and have no bf concerns get cosy.

Message withdrawn

Why would anyone want to go to a Baby Cafe that's been set up to help women to breastfeed if you've no interest in bfing?

SWC, why would you be dubious? They're there to support women in exactly your situation.

I happened to buy this today for a supplement and have just gone to check after seeing the thread.

It says she bottle fed after difficulties with bf and her son was in hosptial with weight loss, (Not that her reasons should matter), and her friend explained the situation and she was told it would be 'inappropriate' to bottle feed there and asked if the visit would be a one off.

Apparently she returned home in tears overwhelmed with guilt and feelings of failure.

I often find the paper one sided and inflammatory, however, it is horrible that a mother is left upset in this way.

Mums who ff get cosy in any restaurant or cafe that they like. And if one of their friends is bf I doubt a member of staff would dare raise an issue. Ff mums don't expect to use bf resources, but sitting there with your friends and getting prejudice for it is just hypocritical.

It does not say she was asked to leave but yet she returned home upset so it's unclear how the 'message' was given

swc - aren't we all just lazy irresponsible mums who couldn't care less about our babies welfare? Isn't bottle feeding the easy option? You're exactly right, a bottle fed baby seems to be a dirty little secret nowadays.

MrsCarrot - poor woman. That makes the story even worse