A mum has told how she was left shocked and angry after being told by a council worker to breastfeed her crying three-month-old son in a TOILET.
Chloe Davis, 19, was trying to soothe distressed baby Jasper at Lancaster Town Hall and asked if there was somewhere she could breastfeed.
But she was left seething after a male member of staff told Chloe to use the toilet – which Chloe refused.
Eventually, the council worker agreed to allow her to breastfeeding in a private room.
But Chloe is fuming about the incident – and councillor Abi Mills, who has taken up the young mum‘s fight, has blasted it as “appalling”.
A stunned Chloe said: “I was a bit shocked. I can’t believe it happened at the town hall. It’s never happened to me before.
“I was in a meeting room with a male member of staff and my baby started screaming. I tried rocking him and his dummy but he was hungry.
“So I asked him is it fine to breastfeed, just out of courtesy really because it’s against the law to say no. It was more so he could leave the room if he felt uncomfortable.
“He said he would just check, he went outside to speak to a colleague, and came back and said that they’d never had this before and I could feed him in the toilets. He was pushing me to use the toilet.
“I said ‘I’m not feeding my baby in the toilet, that’s not hygienic’.
“My support worker was with me. She used to breastfeed and was quite angry.
“My landlord has sold the property where I live and given notice so I was there to talk about new housing,” she said.
Chloe posted details about the incident on Facebook and it got 140 shares.
Afterwards, she went straight to a young mums group where she spoke about what happened and told members of the group never to be afraid to breastfeed in public or a public building.
Councillor Abi Mills said she would complain to the council chief executive on Chloe’s behalf.
Chloe said: “Councillor Abi Mills contacted me. She was furious about
“It’s appalling,” said Coun Mills, who represents Scotforth West.
“It’s irrelevant if it was in a public or a private room, it’s about the way she was made to feel. I’m going to suggest training for members of staff. They need to treat people with respect.
“I’ve had three kids, I breastfed for six years and ran a breastfeeding group so I’m passionate about it.”
A spokesman for Lancaster City Council said: “Lancaster City Council welcomes anyone wishing to breastfeed whilst accessing its services to do so freely in both its public areas as well as any private areas which can be made available if they so wish.
“On this occasion, it was understood that in asking what breastfeeding facilities were available to customers, that the lady wished to breastfeed her child in private rather than in the public customer service waiting area and was offered a private interview room which she accepted.
“The use of the purpose built disabled facilities with baby changing area (available to customers on demand) was another option offered to Ms Davis at the time.
“We apologise for the distress this apparent misunderstanding appears to have caused.”
The NHS website says: “You shouldn’t ever be made to feel uncomfortable about breastfeeding in public.
“In fact, the Equality Act 2010 has made it illegal for anyone to ask a breastfeeding woman to leave a public place, such as a cafe, shop or public transport.”
