Young mum, Rhea Holley was left devastated when she was called a ‘slut’ for breastfeeding her baby in a Costa coffee shop recently.
Rhea said that she and a friend were in the coffee shop, which she knows to be breastfeeding friendly, when her son, 11 month-old Arthur, began to get hungry.
However, once she began to feed the baby, the young mum said she heard the elderly couple blast her: “I heard one of them say ‘it is disgusting’, that I know what time babies should be fed and should stay at home then, and that I was a ‘slut’.”
Thankfully for Rhea, the baristas at Costa were fully supportive of the breastfeeding mum and told the couple off for their behaviour. Staff also explained to the couple that The Equality Act 2010 means that a woman has the right to breastfeed in public.
Rhea spoke highly of the staff in the shop, saying: “It was so good of them – not only to stand by the law on breastfeeding but also to be so supportive of someone feeling so upset.”
A spokesperson for the coffee chain said about the situation: “Mother bring children of all ages to Costa and they are always warmly welcomed by us ... We have always been very happy for mothers to breastfeed in our stores offering a family-friendly environment that is the perfect place for mums to relax with their children.”
