Mass Feed-In At McDonalds
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When Debbie Reynolds went into her local McDonald’s in Bournemouth she expected to be allowed to feed her ten week old daughter Sophie. However the manager came over and asked her to stop. She said that she wouldn’t and he asked her to leave. She stood her ground and carried on feeding the little girl until he left. However, she very upset about the situation and was determined to do something about it.
So she returned later with five of her friends from her ante natal class and they sat down at a table by the counter and all started to feed their babies at the same time. She says that none of the staff looked at them and the manager decided that there was nothing he could do.
The spokesperson for McDonald’s said that they were disappointed in the incident and the manager had been told that he had made a mistake and he would not do it again.
However, according to a survey by the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), this behavior is quite common in branches of McDonald’s across the UK. The NCT state that McDonald’s is considered to be the worst public place for breast feeding. Ikea was found to be the best shop to breast feed.
Since McDonald’s is very much aimed towards children, this does not support their efforts to encourage more families into the restaurants.
This comes after the fact that the Equality Bill is due to be released which will make it a legal requirement to be able to nurse babies in public places. Currently Britain has the lowest rate of breast feeding in Europe and the Department of Health are trying to increase this level.
It is important that mothers do not feel embarrassed to feed their children when required, since this is one of the main factors that causes women to cease feeding their babies sooner than they would have liked. Fortunately women are becoming increasingly militant on this issue and I wouldn’t be surprised if we have more of these sorts of incidents. It is also important to remember that actually very few people notice if a mother is nursing or just cuddling a baby, and even few have any problems with it anyway.
Further Information
McDonald’s apologises after group of mothers staged sit-in over breast-feeding ban
Mothers rate McDonald’s as the worst place for breastfeeding
Kat says...
I had to read this one twice because the first time I read it I thought the mom was feeding the baby McDonald’s food - LOL - I must need more sleep. I kept thinking who in the world is feeding an infant McDonalds?!?! I have been fortunate to only have had good experiences with nursing in public
Kats last blog post..No mommy!
ian says...
I think that it lovely to see mums feeding their kids in public. It is natural and beautiful to see. All very normal of course when I was young ,just after the war.
Jenn says...
I am a breastfeeding mother and its hard for me to feed in public dew to people like that manager! I usually feed my baby in my car witch is not always the most comfortable place for me or her. and keeping the car running for the ac and heat to keep the baby at a safe temp is a hit to the wallet dew the price of gas! I will not be going to mc Donald’s again because I think its wrong to kick someone out for feeding her child and I am sick of people making breastfeeding mothers feel guilty for feeding their baby’s discretely in public when a baby is hungry and crying a mother should be able to feed the baby any way the parent sees fit bottle or breast and I think my family will benefit from not going to mc Donald’s considering the kind food being served. so two birds one stone!
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