Louise Burns was 35, had three children and a hungry baby. She was sitting in the restaurant at Claridge’s, one of London’s most elegant hotels, in the heart of Mayfair.
She began breastfeeding. The waiters then came over almost running and placed a huge napkin over her. She was supposed to cover herself and her baby to avoid offending the other customers.
She later told the Evening Standard: she burst into tears. At a table with a white tablecloth, a mother was feeding her child and was treated as though she were committing an offense.
She could have left quietly. She didn’t. She sought out Free to Feed, a group that defends the right to breastfeed in public, and in early December 2014 arrived at the hotel’s doors with dozens of women.
They sat across from Claridge’s and breastfed their children, without napkins and without hiding. Its founder, Emily Slough, explained that scenes like these make many mothers stop trying.
The hotel apologized and wanted her to come back. Louise replied that she would never return.
There are tables where people don’t eat only bread. They also enjoy the right not to apologize for feeding a child.
