Arizonan mom Andrea O’Dowd was shopping at her local Barney’s when her daughter got hungry and began to fuss. Deciding that she would just breastfeed four-month-old Serena in a vacant dressing room, she asked one of the department store’s staff.
“They tried to tell me to use their bathroom, which didn’t have an area to feed or change a little one, just stalls,” Andrea said, recalling her experience in a Facebook.
When she insisted, the employee said they couldn’t let her use the dressing room because of “loss prevention.”
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Andrea told them to inspect her stroller to be sure, but they didn’t relent.
Arizona law dictates that women are allowed to breast-feed their babies in any private or public location, given that they are authorized to be there.
The department store has since issued a statement saying they will review its “lactation policy and training protocol for all locations to ensure that we are adhering to best practices.”
READ: Hollywood actor Alyssa Milano defends public breastfeeding
As of this writing, Andrea has yet to hear from the fashion-forward retail chain.
Meanwhile, her story continues to gain a lot of support from other mothers who have had received the same sub-par treatment for breastfeeding in public.
“I’ve gotten a lot of support,” she said. “I decided to speak out because this should not be such a big issue—it’s just natural.”
Andrea also encouraged other nursing moms to file complaints if they find themselves in a similar situation with the retail giant, because “[moms] shouldn’t be intimidated.”
Moms who breastfeed in public get a lot of flak from people because it is considered “inappropriate,” and even a way to get attention. Most of the time they are relegated to the back of the room, or worse, the bathroom.
But bathrooms are unsanitary (you wouldn’t want to eat there, so why should a baby?), mothers don’t have anywhere to sit in, and it would be an uncomfortable experience for both the baby and the mother.
Mothers shouldn’t be bullied into doing something that they do to make sure that their children are healthy and taken care of.
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