Debenhams apologises to mum after she is forced to breastfeed baby in ‘freezing’ toilet corridor
Dezrin Ward, 22, says she was left feeling 'humiliated' by the experience at the intu Potteries shopping centre branch
A MUM who was forced to breastfeed her baby in a “freezing” Debenhams toilet corridor has won an apology from the retailer.
Dezrin Ward was told by a member of staff to use the store’s baby-changing room.
But she declined after discovering the chair she would have been expected to sit in was next to the toilet.
With 11-week-old daughter Remi Cooper getting increasingly agitated, Demi resorted to feeding her in the corridor outside.
Dezrin, 22, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, said: “I went in there and there were two toilets, a baby changing area and a chair.
“Remi was hysterical and there was a queue of women who wanted to use that facility.
“I thought I can’t feed her next to a toilet and I don’t want to keep the other mums waiting as it would take me about 45 minutes so I sat down just outside the baby changing room where there are a few chairs.”
She added: “It was a humiliating experience.
"I had people staring at me and the smell coming from the toilets was horrendous and I had to sit there for 30-45 minutes.
“It was disgusting that they expected me to breastfeed in the baby changing room.
“There were men and women walking past and it was freezing cold.”
While feeding Remi, Dezrin said she was approached by a member of staff at the intu Potteries shopping centre branch, in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, who informed her that the cafe could be used for breastfeeding.
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She said: “They really need to review their policy on this and their staff need to know where is acceptable to breastfeed – not a toilet.
“I feel like people need to realise that breastfeeding is a normal thing and mothers who do this shouldn’t be penalised and banished to a toilet
A Debenhams spokesman said: “Debenhams is supportive of breastfeeding. This was an isolated incident and we are sorry for any distress caused to the customer.”
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