Taking to Facebook to vent her frustration, Katy Young explained how furious she was after an employee at the restaurant told her to cover up while breastfeeding and then continued to put a dishtowel over her baby without permission.
Breastfeeding is a topic that often sparks debate – let alone whether to do it in public or not.
Earlier this year a pro-breastfeeding scheme launched in Wales to make it easier for mothers to feed their babies in public.
Unfortunately it doesn't look as though other places are experiencing the same levels of progress, as one mum in America has shown.
Katy Young was at a pizza restaurant in Alabama, United States, and was told she needed to cover up while feeding her child.
She's revealed how the employee at the restaurant took matters into her own hands and put a 'dish rag' over her baby's head, without asking for consent.
Katy explained: 'I just left Giovanna's on Broad Street in Phenix City, Alabama. I will NEVER GO THERE AGAIN. While breastfeeding my child, a woman who works there approached me and told me I needed to cover myself up because she's a "Christian" and my breastfeeding offended her.
'I told her I would not cover up and that I am protected in 49 states and able to breastfeed wherever I want. She proceeded to attempt, without asking if she could touch me, to cover me and my baby's head with a dish rag (I assume clean but still a dish rag nonetheless) I stopped her and told her that my husband and I would just leave.'
https://www.facebook.com/kati.bullard.3/posts/181856459332599
Katy continued: 'Not that it should matter but I wasn't fully exposed even in the least. I was using the 2 shirt method and it was the wife not the husband who harassed me. He actually did not witness what occurred. Though he's defending his wife's behaviour, I don't feel that he is a bad person. His wife on the other hand, doesn't belong in customer service. It's sad that she had employees apologising for her behaviour out of embarrassment but she herself could not apologise.'
Katy explained that she hasn't shared her experience in the hope of compensation or a free meal, she simply wants to highlight that the behaviour she had to experience was unacceptable.
She finished her post stating: 'Breastfeeding is not dirty or sexual. It is natural and it should be normalised. For those of you commenting that it is not decent to breastfeed in public, I hope you realise that more skin is shown in a low cut top than I was showing this day. Look around you. Bra and underwear models are more exposed than I was. If you're offended by a baby eating, you should be offended with the world around you as well.'
Have you ever experienced or witnessed a similar situation unfold? Do you think mothers should be able to openly breastfeed in public? We'd love to hear what you have to say so head over to our Facebook page and join the conversation!
