A Utah woman said that she was asked to leave a Nordstrom Rack store’s bathroom because she was breastfeeding her 1-month-old baby.
Ana Davis said that she “went to the bathroom and found an open chair” to feed her daughter, 1-month-old Mia, KSL-TV reports.
“Several people walked in and out of the restroom during that time, and within a few minutes, we were approached by a Nordstrom employee that said a complaint had been made,” said the mom.
Ana said that the employee asked her to move to a fitting room to finish feeding her baby, which Ana did.
The biggest surprise,” she said, “is that our one-month-old had to stop feeding so that somebody could go to the restroom.”
“It was a little embarrassing,” the mom said. “I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong by nursing.”
After Ana told her husband, Joel Davis, about the incident, Joel contacted Nordstrom.
“It provokes the question, ‘Why did it make sense to ask a nursing mother to leave the privacy of a bathroom?'” Joel asked. “Why did that make more sense than to explain, well, ‘It is a bathroom?'”
“I’m floored,” Joel said. The family received an apology from the store manager via email, in which they were told that the store would work to educate its employees on laws about breastfeeding.
“We were so disappointed to hear Mrs. Davis say this was her experience when she visited our store, and we’ve followed up directly with her and her husband to apologize,” said a Nordstrom spokesperson.
“We want every customer to feel comfortable while they’re shopping with us, particularly nursing mothers,” the spokesperson added. “Though we’re always happy to offer a fitting room if a mom is looking for additional privacy, our employees should never ask a nursing mom to move. We’ve looked into this and confirmed each of our employees knows that mothers are able to nurse in our store wherever they’re most comfortable.”
In a similar story in October 2016, a mom said she was asked to leave a Target store in Texas after breastfeeding her 3-month-old baby, according to KVUE.
Jessica, 23, said that she tried to use a fitting room to feed her daughter. A female employee reportedly told the mom “that’s not really what they’re for,” but that she could use a bathroom.
Jessica said that she took her shopping cart filled with items to the bathroom, and the employee, who had followed her, said that she could not take her cart in with her. Then, the employee told her that she also couldn’t leave the cart with unattended items.
“So, I asked her where I could put it, and she told me I should probably not bring a hungry baby out,” said Jessica. “She asked if she wouldn’t take a bottle and I said, ‘No she’s breastfed. We’ve had a hard time with bottles.’ And she said, ‘Well, maybe you should feed her in the car, maybe you should just leave.'”
Target issued a statement after the alleged incident, saying that they had gotten in touch with Jessica to discuss what had happened.
“Guests who choose to breastfeed in public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable,” said Target’s statement. “Additionally, we support the use of fitting rooms for women who wish to breastfeed their babies, even if others are waiting to use the fitting rooms.”
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Max Tucker