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6 Dec 2014

Breastfeeding protest – is it all a storm in a D-cup?

Breastfeeding mothers held a ‘nurse-in’ outside Claridge’s hotel in London after a woman was told to cover up while feeding her baby earlier this week.

breastfeeding mothers

Anyone attending afternoon tea at Claridge’s hotel this afternoon would have been greeted by a row of women sat on the pavement nursing their babies.

The women were protesting against the Mayfair hotel’s treatment of a breastfeeding mother earlier this week. Louise Burns, 35, was asked to cover up with a napkin while nursing her 12-week-old daughter. She tweeted a picture of herself wearing what she described as a “ridiculous shroud”.

Claridge’s later tweeted Ms Burns after the incident to clarify their stance on breastfeeding.

But the response did not deter around a dozen women from staging a ‘nurse-in’ outside the five-star hotel.

Sat cross-legged on the pavement in the freezing cold, these women breastfed their babies in full view of the public and the press. There were also around 20 women and men who came to support the nursing mums. Among them was Clare Mariscal, 36, from London and her one-year-old son Emilio.

Clare Mariscal and her son

Emilio’s placard read “That’s what breasts are for, stupid”, summarising his mother’s feelings towards Claridge’s actions.

Clare told Channel 4 News: “There’s this idea that breasts for feeding babies are somehow disgusting. It’s okay to have them shoved in your face for advertising purposes but to use them for what their intended for is somehow seen as offensive. It’s just wrong.”

Although there was a great deal of anger among those who attended the protest, organised by breastfeeding campaign group ‘Free to Feed’, turnout was low. Perhaps the December temperatures had scared some away. But there were virtually as many journalists and photographers as protesters.

So has this issue been blown out of proportion?

Farage controversy

When Ukip leader Nigel Farage entered into the debate earlier this week on his LBC radio phone-in, his comments were widely criticised. He said: “This is just a matter of common sense… It isn’t too difficult to breastfeed a baby in a way that isn’t openly ostentatious… perhaps sit in the corner.”

“People of the older generation feel awkward and embarrassed by it,” he added.

But without Mr Farage’s input, would the protest outside Claridge’s have attracted a such a great deal of media attention?

The Ukip leader said his comments has been misinterpreted in his weekly column for the Daily Express.

“I said that I had no problem with it personally… I certainly didn’t endorse the idea of forcing women to sit in corners, or wear napkins – as the media has sought to report,” Farage wrote.

The 2010 Equality Act states it is illegal to discriminate against a woman for breastfeeding her child. Claridge’s declined to comment on the ‘nurse-in’.

Channel 4 News asked mothers about their experiences of breastfeeding in public…

Report by Rebecca Cotterill