Over 250 breastfeeding mothers descended upon The Park Street Café in Bristol after another breastfeeding mother claims that she was verbally abused by a waitress for attempting to breastfeeding her daughter.
As reported by The Sun, Kelly Schaecher, 28, from Clifton, Bristol, had been preparing to breastfeed her five-month-old daughter, Sasha, while eating at the cafe. After the breastfeeding mother sat down, a waitress told her that she would have to sit in the corner to breastfeed her daughter. In tears, the mother left the cafe.
In a bizarre twist, Schaecher then claims that the waitress followed her out of the cafe and shouted at her, “Don’t you ever come back to my cafe with your t*** out again!”
Terrified and shocked, the breastfeeding mother says she turned to the waitress who was berating her and said, “You don’t know what’s coming.” Breastfeeding mothers are known to come together in breastfeeding flashmobs and organized nurse-ins to help support other women who have been shamed for breastfeeding in public.
After sharing her horrible experience at the cafe on Twitter and Facebook, more than 250 breastfeeding mothers rallied together outside of the cafe. Participants in the breastfeeding flashmob lined up outside for their chance to enter and breastfeed their babies inside.
Many of the women participating in the flashmob donned signs that read “Lactavists” and “Mother Suckers.”
The breastfeeding mothers were given free coffee and cakes by apologetic cafe owner Davide Pontini.
Pontini, an Italian entrepreneur, states on The Huffington Post that he supports breastfeeding rights and breastfeeding within his cafe:
“I want to reassure you all that breastfeeding is totally OK in my cafe.
It’s not within my character to hang my head in shame and that’s why I’m here today to speak to you all and apologise.
This whole thing started from a misunderstanding but now things have changed for the better and I hope that women will feel comfortable breastfeeding here.”
Schaefer believes that the breastfeeding flashmob went well. She comments, “What we did was a peaceful gathering, not a protest, and we had a really good reaction from the police and the public.”
The breastfeeding mother also added, “It is exactly what I wanted, we’ve all had free coffee and cakes and now Davide has put the ‘we welcome breastfeeding’ sign in the window.”
Are you surprised by the positive reactions to this breastfeeding flashmob?
pretty funny! I breastfed my son and believe it should be permitted everywhere – as long as it is done discreetly and with good taste, unlike the recent Time magazine cover photo.
There are men who have larger breasts than most women who walk around shirtless, so why can't a woman expose her breast to feed her child?
Ummm…a little class would have probably told her privacy for everyone is a good thing…maybe the ladies room
I don't want to see someones boobs out while I'm eating or with my husband in a restaurant its uncomfortable!!!!!!
I don't agree and the woman's comment says it.. she got what she wanted. “It is exactly what I wanted, we’ve all had free coffee and cakes and now Davide has put the ‘we welcome breastfeeding’ sign in the window.”.
I don't believe for a bit she went away in tears. She wanted a public outcry. No mention of 'how discreet' she was. And who decides what is 'discreet' and what is 'exposure'. I've seen some women do it and quite publicly.
I don't mind it a bit!!!!Besides there are ways to disguise it while the baby is feeding.Like using a little blanky!!!!
Buahahahaaha! I agree! I understand its a natural thing but sex is natural too and we keep that in the bedroom!!!! buahahhahaha!!!
Those who complain are probably flat as a board and couldn't produce a drop of milk even if they had a herd of cows attached to them. Get over it, breast feeding is natural and if it bothers you you need serious help.
To those that consider breastfeeding "uncomfortable," especially if you're female, seek help for your problem and don't expect society to change for you. To those that promote "disguising" and "discretion," consider why you want mothers to act shamefully. As far as I'm concerned, Mothers: be obvious, if you like, because it's your God-given charge to nurture your child, and it's a perverted society that has a problem with that.
Whatever Monica! You always try to look at my boobs when we have dinner!!!
One time I was looking at a cute baby in a restaurant and the mom was holding it….then she just whipped out her tig old bitty and that kid went to town I was like wtf I just saw her nipshe could have atleast put a towel over that
Vicky I look at ur boobs because they are just out there…
She has no reason to be ashamed of her breasts, or breastfeeding her child. Get over yourself.
I love seeing breastfeeding moms ANYWHERE; what I think is shameful is these women who run around half-naked with their books hanging out to get attention from men! That is what is disgusting. I bf all three of my children and tried to be considerate of others but if they wanted to eat well so be it.
books hanging out??? LOL!!
oh "boobs" ha ha
ok Kim i will get right on that! thanks for putting me in my place… oh and when you get a chance can you shut up.
Books? They should be shamed!!! Jk, I know you ment boobs!
Awesome story Grandma!!
Do you feed your children sodapop and cake in Public? To me, that's far more disgusting than whipping out the source of the best food the planet can provide. Priorities, people…………….
not at all the same thing. I have no problem with people that DO it discreetly. But I have seen more not care who is around. AND people who do things just to get attention or cause a scene don't deserve support. This woman was more concerned with that than feeding the baby. She states it clear enough or did you miss that point. It WASN'T about the nutritional value versus cake and soda. Which is an absurd comparison. I have never seen a person feed cake and soda to a baby.
Has nothing to do with 'comfortable' or needing to seek help. Seeing as this is something I HAVE more experience on than you, my issue is with people who do it to make a point rather than for the purpose intended. There are people who think breastfeeding a 4-yr old in public is ok. Or did you miss the Time article. After a certain time, the benefits to the child are less affective than food sources other than mom. If this woman's first comment was the sign that states she can go back and does so discreetly, then fine. However, that isn't what she said. As for the 'society to change for you'. if that were the case, then breastfeeding in public would NOT be allowed at all since until recently, society DIDN'T allow it.
I guess I need to explain my obvious point: if anyone is "uncomfortable" with what is natural, then they have a problem coping with reality. It's insane to think that a mother breastfeeding in public's sole motivation is controversy, when they arrived with a hungry infant — why can't she do both? And you're hung up with her using it as a form of protest?? Yes, I missed the article, and mentioning some 4-yr old is irrelevant and off-topic. You're determining what's important to the woman based on the first think the article said she said? And, my statement said society should not cater to the insane, but you somehow think that means that breastfeeding is insane? I'm finding it really hard to take you seriously, when you're so caught up in your own head.
Shirley Cieszka, It is perfectly normal to breastfeed a 4 year old. If a 4 year old is still nursing, it usually means it is a very short lived 'check in'. Nursing is more than food. This isn't about food, but it is still extremely nutritious and extremely potent for antibodies that a little body might benefit from. So, while a toddler might not get *all* their nutrition from breastfeeding, that in no way diminishes the benefits both from an immunologic and nutritive point of view, as well as from an emotional or psychological point of view. So I am curious why you think that after a certain time, the benefits to the child are less effective than food sources. Breast milk is still and always will be the most nutrient dense food a child can get – and even more so for a toddler because the milk becomes more and more condensed and potent – because the body knows the child is not taking in as much in volume as when they were getting all their food/nutrition from the breast. Also, society has always allowed breastfeeding in public….it is, in fact, a relatively recent phenomenon where breastfeeding was not seen as the norm. It has never been against the law to breastfeed in public, to my knowledge. Breastfeeding laws were written because people were suddenly seeing breastfeeding again after years and years of hardly any women breastfeeding at all, and there were plenty of people who were now so unaccustomed to seeing it that they were uncomfortable seeing it, and because they thought it wasn't necessary to do in public (there are bottles after all!) they didn't understand that it is a woman's right and a baby's right to breastfeed anywhere they happened to be.
Donna, the ability to fabricate plastic bottles a baby could lift and artificial nipples a baby would accept came after the "Better Living Through Chemistry" revolution provided artificial formula and eliminated the "need" for breastfeeding. Those returning to the healthier natural alternative created the need for a pump, which requires more preparation, and more importantly, refrigeration. So yeah, there were bottles, but those unaccustomed to the point of uncomfort mostly didn't understand that the natural way was superior in every way. That society "forgot" that breasts were babies' food source, but encouraged their portrayal as nothing but sexual playthings by enacting any laws is just shameful to me.
Argh seriously! I'm not even going to talk about the natural act of feeding and nurturing a child. I'm a 100% lactivist
.
One of the questions that I would like to have answered is, why is it ok for men to walk around shirtless in this heat but women would get arrested and charged if they did they same? How unfair!!!
I breastfed my first child for 15 months, and in public *gasp!* including at the grocery store, Target, restaurants, and a university campus. Not once did I get so much as a look, (I did get a curious young lady asking me questions once, she planned to BF her future babies and wanted my advice!) By the 15mos mark I was only BFing twice a day. Most toddlers who still BF only do so a few times, usually at night, so you're really not going to see a "big kid" nursing in public. Now I have a 6 week old baby and I've already BF at Applebees – waiter didn't even flinch at it! – and at the grocery store. I do use a blanket but only because we're still working out the kinks, once baby can latch on without my help the blanket goes! Seriously, I get hot with the blanket, I know baby does too, and it's just a hassle! Plus I think a cover just draws more attention anyways, most nursing moms look like they're just holding the baby anyhow. I personally have more issues changing my baby's diaper in public!
I believe the mother's comment about the confections was to reiterate how supportive the cafe owner was of the nurse-in and breastfeeding in general. Breastfeeding burns 500+ calories a day so I imagine the free cake was much appreciated (I always have a snack while I nurse my baby!). I will add that making women "cover up" and be "discreet" while feeding their infant really is shaming them, especially when they are feeding their baby the way God/nature intended. You put a misbehaving child in the corner as punishment – most people don't like to be excluded from the group – not a mother who is doing nothing wrong. It is a mother's choice whether or not she wants to separate herself or cover up, not yours. If it bothers you, then by all means, leave.