When Maddie Reynolds was asked by a McDonalds manager to stop breastfeeding, she was so angry that she returned with five friends she had met at ante-natal classes and they staged a mass feed-in at the restaurant.
Maddie, a 27 year old nursery nurse from Bournemouth said:
'We began breastfeeding our babies all at the same time to make a point. We caused a bit of a stir among customers but none of the staff looked our way.'
The incident happened at the McDonald's branch inside an Asda supermarket in the resort. The feisty mum was feeding ten-week-old Sophie when the staff member intervened.
'I had a proper maternity top on which is designed for breastfeeding so no one could see anything .... I was angry when the man told me to leave but knew I wasn't doing anything wrong so I carried on. But he just stood there and watched me for a few minutes. I felt so humiliated but put my head down and didn't stop and eventually he walked off. I felt so cross and upset.'
Maddie added: 'I choose to breastfeed Sophie because I know it's healthy and the best thing for her. I remember reading about a similar incident a while back where a woman was thrown out of a coffee shop for breastfeeding. She was so upset by it that she started using bottles instead. I wasn't prepared to let something like that happen to anyone else again.'
Fellow protester Catherine Davis, 19, took her seven-week-old daughter Amelia along to the sit-in.
She said: 'I just thought the way Maddie was treated was disgusting. It's the most natural thing to feed your baby and there's nothing wrong with it. Everyone says breast is best. I have breastfed in public and no one ever has ever said anything to me. I think it's fine as long as you are discreet.'
Alison Purves, spokesman for McDonald's, said the company was 'disappointed' by the junior manager's actions as breastfeeding mothers were welcomed in all its restaurants. He has been told he made a mistake and McDonalds are confident that he will make the right decsion in future. Alison said:
'This manager was not following company policy at all. If another customer ever expressed their discomfort about breastfeeding we would encourage them to move rather than the mum. What we don't want to do is to make mums feel as if they have to hide away.'
July 2008
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