Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Target (Allegedly) Does Not Support Breastfeeding in Public??

I got a note from a friend of mine today that alerted me to a situation in Texas. A mom in a Target store was allegedly harassed by multiple Target employees while she was breastfeeding her infant. When she called to complain at their corporate headquarters she was told (again allegedly) that "Target has different policies because they are a family friendly public place". I'm attempting to confirm the validity of this story.

Regardless of story's accuracy, there is now a nurse in scheduled internationally that is to take place ant all Targets on October 28 at 10am local time. I called my local Target and was informed that they support breastfeeding in their store and had not heard about the situation with the Texas mom and had also not heard of any plans for a nurse in at Target.

The story is below and I have joined the closed group on Facebook that is organizing the nurse in. As far as I can see, people in multiple states plan to participate.

I'll blog more as I get more information.

Anyone interested in going to a Target in Rochester on the 28th? ;)

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International Nurse in at Target Stores Dec 28 10am local time

I'm not the best public speaker or the most educated or outspoken person in breastfeeding rights but I am a mom of 4 who has been harassed and humiliated by Target for nursing by infant in their store. I was Christmas shopping with a basket full of items when my infant woke up hungry, so I found a remote area of the store in the ladies clothing department close to the fitting rooms and sat Indian style on the floor next to my basket and a display of jeans and nursed my hungry baby with a blanket completely covering him. Briefly I will say that 2 women employees came and verbally asked me to move. The 2nd one told me that Target employees had been told/trained to interrupt nursing and to redirect mothers to the fitting rooms. Even after I informed the 2nd employee of my legal right to nurse in public she still suggested me moving closer to the jean display, turning to face another direction, and also turn my basket a certain way which would have put me practically underneath the jean display and totally barricaded me in. Employee #2 even said in a hint around but threatening way you can get a ticket and be reported for indecent exposure when nothing was being exposed and there was more boob showing from low cut shirts several shoppers were wearing that night. This does not include the other 3-4 employees besides the 2 verbal ones who were all watching and making a spectacle of my nursing by walking by standing around pretending to do something and giving me mean looks and shaking their heads no back and forth. In a side note not a single non-employee customer ever saw the incident so I'm not sure why the employees were trying to act like I was offending "the public" and that it was their job to step in.

After I left the store I decided to call the Target corporate office and speak to a guest relations person to notify them of the situation and to suggest that they educate their employees as to the legal right I have to nurse in public. The phone call however took a turn for the worse. The lady (I wish I would have gotten her name) told me that she and Target were aware of our legal rights as nursing mothers, but that Target has different policies because they are a family friendly public place. I can't think of a more family friendly act than breastfeeding and providing the irrefutably proven healthiest diet to my baby. She continued to inform me repetitively that Target's policies were different than the law and even went as far to say several times that just because it is a woman's right to nurse in public even without a nursing cover like I was using doesn't mean women should walk around and I quote "flaunting it" and was extremely rude. I also talked to the supervisor of this rude lady and that didn't get anywhere either.

It saddens me that mothers are being treated this way as if breastfeeding is vile and offensive. If this would have happened to me with the first child I nursed I would have considered giving up on nursing due to embarrassment and that is what concerns me the most. I know that breastmilk is best and that nursing is hard work and a selfless act that mothers choose to do for their babies, and I would hate for this to happen to someone else causing them to give up on nursing. Please help me support the best nutrition for babies and to make a stand in support of nursing in public so this doesn't happen again.

Michelle Hickman, Friendswood, TX tm_hickman@sbcglobal.net

Reposted with permission from a post on CafeMom.

2 comments:

Stephanie F said...

Even though I'm no longer lactating, I'm in.

Barb said...
This comment has been removed by the author.