H&M Nurse-In
Over 100 hundred Vancouver moms, babies & dads came out for a nurse-in, to support Manuel Valle, who was asked not to breastfeed her two month old in a local H&M.
Breastfeeding in a public place is a protected right in B.C. Unfortunately, reading the comments on the on-line news articles it seems that many see it as the same thing as walking around naked, having sex, or having a bowel movement in public! Geesh!
Here is a letter written by Manuela:
“Despite all the medical evidence that encourages breastfeeding, it seems that women continue to be socially punished and made to feel ashamed when they do it publicly. Today, I was shopping with my husband and our 2 month baby at H&M stores at the Pacific Centre Mall, located in Granville St, Vancouver. When he went into the fitting rooms my baby started crying, so I naturally proceeded to breastfeed her. After a couple minutes, though, I was approached by one of the store clerks who told me that unfortunately, I could not breastfeed there unless I went into a special fitting room to do it in private. When I asked why, she said it was the store policy because what I was doing offended other costumers and that there were also children around (sorry H&M, my bad: I was not aware that the sight if breastfeeding mother could be harmful to a child). She even said that this is the protocol they are taught to follow during their training. At that point, two other employees came to escort me to the fitting rooms as if I was a dangerous criminal. I was offered to speak to the manager, a very kind man called Guru, who explained to me again that it was the store policy, because breastfeeding in public was offensive to some costumers, and also that they were offering me a much more comfortable space to do it. But of course, they were not “offering” me anything, they were forcing me to do it in seclusion or I could not do it at all. So I told them I would publicly campaign against their policy because it is wrong and discrimina
