More than 100 moms gathered at an Anthropologie in California to protest after a woman was escorted from the sales floor of the store for breastfeeding her baby.
On Tuesday, mom Ingrid Wiese Hesson took to Facebook to describe an incident that occurred at the Anthropologie on Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Wiese Hesson said she brought her six-week-old baby along for a shopping trip, and, after paying for her $700 haul of items, her baby began crying. So, she sat down to breastfeed him. The store's manager then approached Wiese Hesson and told her: "I'm here to escort you to the ladies room where you can finish feeding your baby." She was escorted into a bathroom where the only seat was the toilet.
Wiese Hesson said she called the store after leaving and spoke with the manager about what had happened.
"I thought you and the other customers would be more comfortable off the sales floor," the employee said, adding: "[W]e must be fair to all the customers, not just moms."
Wiese Hesson's breastfeeding story went viral after her original Facebook post was picked up by various media outlets. Anthropologie released a PR-friendly response to what occurred:
We are disappointed to hear of the unfortunate experience that occurred in our Beverly Hills store. As a company comprised of hundreds of mothers, which seeks to put the customer first, we celebrate women in all of their life stages. Given our staff's dedication to providing exceptional customer service, we welcome this as an opportunity to enhance our customer experience by providing further training and education for our staff. Our aim is that all women—all mothers—be comfortable in our stores and delight in their relationship with Anthropologie.
This response did not satisfy everyone, however. On Wednesday, A group of mothers decided to stage a "nurse-in" during which they breastfed their babies to protest the Beverly Hills store, CBSLA reported.
Wiese Hesson posted a photo from the nurse-in on her Facebook, writing that more than one hundred women showed up to the event.
"It's great for people to see that a lot of us are doing this, and it's important to us, and I think it's really wrong that they escorted this woman to the bathroom to nurse her baby in there," one protestor told KABC on Wednesday.
Section 43.3 of California’s Civil Code states a mother has the right to breastfeed her child in "any location, public or private, except the private home or residence of another, where the mother and the child are otherwise authorized to be present."
h/t Baby Center