OUTRAGEOUS! Mum is BANNED from breastfeeding in HOSPITAL
Ariana Elders was escorted from the emergency room waiting area
By Frances Sheen
March 24 2019
A mum was ordered to leave a hospital waiting room by staff as she sat and breastfed her baby.
Ariana Elders was waiting for her 4-year-old son to be seen by emergency doctors, when her baby son started to cry. In a bid to calm him down, Ariana tried to breastfeed him to help him sleep.
Ariana explained that she had to take her 4-month-old boy, Deklin, to the hospital with her 4-year-old son, who needed to be seen at the emergency department of the Women & Children Emergency Room at Huntsville Hospital in Atlanta, USA.
Her eldest son hadn't been well for several days.
But as she was feeding her youngest child, a security guard came over to her.
Ariana explains, "I started feeding my son and about five minutes later he comes up to me. He’s like, ‘Ma’am, you’re not breastfeeding are you?’ I was like, ‘Yeah!’ Because it was obvious I was breastfeeding!"
“He said that according to the Huntsville Hospital rules that they’ve had implemented for years, a breastfeeding mother had to be in a room,” she continued.
Ariana knew the law meant she could breastfeed anywhere but was so upset by the "embarrassing incident" she followed the guard to a room where she was allowed to breastfeed.
Afterwards Ariana complained and the hospital apologised profusely, saying,
"Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children allows breastfeeding in public. In Mrs. Elders’ situation a member of our staff made a mistake. We spoke with her earlier today and apologized. We want to assure her and our community that we are reviewing our training process to ensure our staff recognize, respect and uphold the rights of breastfeeding mothers."
But Ariana explained that she feels she should have stood up for her rights, so she is now sharing her story so others might learn from her experience.
"[Mothers] need to stand up for themselves," she said. "It is legal to breastfeed wherever you want. Feed your child whether by breast or bottle. You know, don't let anybody shame you for making your child healthy.”
Just recently, there have been reports of mums, all over the world, being asked to STOP breastfeeding in public - one mum of twins was told NOT to breastfeed at their day care, while another was ordered to leave a public swimming pool.
In Australia, it is also illegal to stop any breastfeeding mother from feeding her child in public under federal and state law.
