There's absolutely nothing easy or simple about being a mom. Whether you're a new mom, or have a few years of child-raising behind you, being a parent is just about the hardest job in the world. And when you have to leave the comfort of your home with your kids, that job becomes a whole lot more difficult. You have to pack a diaper bag filled with objects so you're prepared for just about anything, but even then things can still get out of control, quickly. And as one Utah woman has learned, sometimes kids get hungry, and you only have two options: breastfeed in public and risk dirty looks and rude judgment, or breastfeed in the bathroom and risk, well, the dirty bathroom. Now, a new report claims that a breastfeeding mom was allegedly kicked out of a bathroom in Utah, though this particular story at least has a promising ending.
UPDATE: In an email to Romper, a Nordstrom spokesperson added the following statement: "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. We want every customer to feel comfortable while they’re shopping with us, particularly nursing mothers. 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."
EARLIER: Ana Davis of Centerville, Utah, was shopping at her local Nordstrom Rack with her 1 month old daughter, Mia, last week. Soon, Mia started to get a little fussy, and Davis knew she was hungry. So, Davis retreated to a bathroom to breastfeed little Mia in a more private space. However, she was soon met with resistance. Davis claimed that "within a few minutes, we were approached by a Nordstrom employee that said a complaint had been made, that someone was feeling uncomfortable to do their business while there was a nursing mother in the restroom."
Romper has reached out to Nordstrom and is awaiting a response.
Davis then claimed that she retreated to a fitting room stall, where she continued to nurse her daughter, but was embarrassed at being called out, and shocked "that our 1-month-old had to stop feeding so that somebody could go to the restroom."
After getting home, Davis told her husband Joel what had happened. Stunned, Joel contacted the local Nordstrom Rack store, as well as corporate representatives, to explain what had happened and express his concern. "It provokes the question, 'Why did it make sense to ask a nursing mother to leave the privacy of a bathroom?'" Joel told local news affiliate KSL News.
After contacting people at Nordstrom, the company immediately reached out to the Davis family to personally apologize for the incident. The company also released a statement to KSL News, stating,
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. We want every customer to feel comfortable while they’re shopping with us, particularly nursing mothers. 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.
Nordstrom was smart to immediately step in an apologize for the alleged incident, and will likely work to educate employees about breastfeeding policies so that incidents like this one don't happen again. It's unfortunate that Davis had to experience embarrassment while nursing her daughter, but perhaps it will serve as an important example to other companies on how to deal with situations smartly and efficiently in the future. For everyone else, it also serves as a reminder to understand the difficulties women face on a daily basis — including something as simple as feeding their own children.
