Breastfeeding
Pub apologises to breastfeeding mother
Lauren Noakes was at the Sneyd Arms in Sneyd Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and told the Stoke Sentinel she left the site after being asked to feed her baby in the toilet.
Cherrelle Liala Oakley posted on Facebook: “Absolutely fuming that my friend Lauren Noakes has just been eating her dinner at the Sneyd Arms pub in Sneyd Green when half way through eating, her tiny baby woke up and demanded a feed, so my friend started to breastfeed as well as eating her own dinner.
“The staff approached her and asked her to go in the disabled, dirty, smelly toilet to feed her baby. I mean... she was eating her own dinner, which then she had to leave to feed her baby in the car, which then meant she could not finish her own dinner, which she had paid for. I think it is disgusting, all the people out there, go take your dinner in the toilets to eat you selfish people. I think it is wrong! Makes me sick!"
Post shared online
The post has been shared almost 2,000 times on the social media page and has attracted more than 50 comments.
One user commented: “That is absolutely disgusting! Sneyd Arms, Sneyd Green, you should be ashamed of yourselves!”
A spokesperson for the Sneyd Arms said: “We would like to apologise for the ill-advised decision taken regarding a breastfeeding mother at the pub. The team member was trying to accommodate another guest’s request, however, this is against our policy to provide a welcoming and comfortable experience for breastfeeding mothers and therefore shouldn’t have happened.”
The pub has also issued the same statement as above on its Facebook page and has received comments about the incident.
'Restore faith'
One user said: “The other guest should have been asked to move if they didn’t like it. Rubbish apology for a situation that never should have occurred.”
Also on the pub’s social media page, one user posted a link to a ‘Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme’, advising the pub to join and “restore people’s faith in your establishment”.
Survey
Should breastfeeding mothers feed in toilets?
Yes
17%No
83%
