A mum was left “absolutely stunned” and “utterly humiliated” after she was “told off” for breastfeeding her three-month-old son at a museum.
Fae Church said one of the members of staff told her “it’s not ok because no food and drink are allowed” in the museum. The 35-year-old from Haverhill in Suffolk, visited The University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge on Saturday, October 15, with her husband Aaron, 35, and their two children Sophie, five, and Reuben, three months.
The family nipped in for a short visit to the free attraction shortly before closing time ahead of meeting Fae's mum and sister in Cambridge later that day. But when Reuben began crying and needed feeding, Fae found herself in trouble with museum staff as she sat in a corner with the tiny tot.
She told Cambridgeshire Live: “I said to my husband, you go off with Sophie and look around and I'll just find somewhere quiet in the corner to feed him. I positioned myself with the pillar to my back and my buggy in front of me to act as a screen, I try and be as private as I possibly can with it and so I sat there”.
The mum said she sat there “quite happily” breastfeeding Reuben to give him a “little feed” for around five minutes. She had a jacket on, and a scarf over the top with the buggy in front.
A few people walked past but the mum said: “They didn’t pay any attention to me they were looking at the exhibits.”
After Fae had finished breastfeeding she started to wind her three-month-old son but said she noticed a woman who worked at the museum walk past and claims she gave her a “sort of funny sideways glance”. Fae engaged with the woman and said in a jovial way “I hope you don't mind, I just made this my breastfeeding corner”.
Fae added: “There was a sort of silence and she looked at me again and she went ‘actually no, it’s not ok because no food and drink are allowed to be consumed in the museum’. I stared at her, my jaw slightly went open and I didn’t know what to say,
She then said ‘there is a café upstairs, you should have gone there’. I felt utterly humiliated -- like a little girl at school, just getting told off. I didn't know what to say”.
After this encounter, Fae said she replied to the guide saying: “Oh well he’s finished feeding now anyway”. Fae claims the guide looked at her again and then walked off.
She added that had been left “absolutely stunned”, as she has breastfed both her children and this was the first time she has received anything negative towards breastfeeding in public.
Fae continued: “Especially from a woman, I found it quite shocking. She seemed disgruntled with me. It was just bizarre and it left me really shaken up.”
When husband, Aaron came back with daughter Sophie, Fae explained what had happened. They were going to speak with the woman again but couldn’t find her, and as they were in a rush to meet Fae’s mum and sister they didn’t have time to report the incident to another member of staff on the day.
Explaining how she felt for the rest of the day Fae said: “I was absolutely shaken by it, I just couldn't believe it. She was making me feel humiliated by it. I did just feel about three inches high in that moment, it wasn't nice.”
The mum also said: “It was the way she said it, there wasn't any kindness from her comments. Most people would have helped me, because I had a big buggy with me and you have your baby in your arms, it's difficult finding places to breastfeed.
“And I’ve never been to the café upstairs, I didn’t know if it was open or how to get to it. With a baby crying you just go and find an area as quick as you possibly can to settle them.”
Adding: “If she had come over and said ‘there's a nice area here or I can help you go there’, that would have been perfectly normal and a kind thing to do.”
The mum of two adds: “Breastfeeding, it's hard and exhausting and you have to really persevere to do it, just generally, that alone [on top of] being made to feel like you shouldn't be doing it when you’re out and about. We should all be supporting each other.
"Especially, as a woman, she should support me to be doing something that's natural, and the best thing I can possibly do for my child, it’s quite shameful behaviour.”
The University Museum of Zoology states on its website under the ‘visiting with families’ section “Breastfeeding and bottle feeding is welcomed in all Museum spaces”. The museum has since apologised over the incident.
A spokesperson said: “On behalf of all the staff and volunteers at the Museum of Zoology we can only apologise wholeheartedly for what happened to Fae and the way she was made to feel. We absolutely allow and welcome breastfeeding and bottle-feeding in all our public spaces.
"We pride ourselves on being a family-friendly museum and it’s terrible that a visitor was treated in this manner. The volunteer she spoke to made an unfortunate mistake, one which is not reflective of our culture or policy."
The museum added that it would be reminding volunteers and staff that breastfeeding is allowed in the museum and giving them "pointers" on how to make parents feel comfortable. The spokesperson added: "We are hopeful that with these extra communications, events like this won’t happen again.”
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