By now, breastfeeding should be accepted anywhere - when babies need to eat, they must be fed.
And surely a paediatrician’s office would be a place that would encourage mums who wish to breastfeed, but not so for one mum in particular.
Erin Peña, a mum from Texas in the US was waiting to see a doctor for her four-month-old son when he became hungry and she began to feed him.
She was then told by the receptionist that she would have to go to the bathroom if she wanted to breastfeed, to which the mum replied she had the right to breastfeed anywhere.
Shockingly, the receptionist then told her if she refused to stop breastfeeding her baby, she would cancel her appointment with the doctor.
Standing her ground, Erin refused to stop and the receptionist cancelled the appointment at which point the mum went to find the doctor, expecting an apology and some understanding - instead she was escorted from the building by security!
The outraged mum shared her story on a local news outlet’s Facebook page, explaining what had happened and how angry she is at the situation: “I’m so disgusted. My doctor even lied saying I was walking around with my breast hanging out even though she never saw what happened. I was just sitting there in a chair. It was sickening. Even though it’s against the law, I would respect a restaurant’s wishes if it asked me to leave, but a paediatrics’ office at UMC??????”
A representative for the hospital has since apologised about the incident, saying: “Our staff asked that woman to leave unless she covered herself up, which is absolutely wrong. We apologise to that mother and to all breastfeeding mothers.”
