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Disneyland Paris faces a widespread backlash after its security staff told a nursing mother she needed to cover up or move elsewhere.
Laura, thirty-three, a mother of two, identified only by first name, was feeding her nine-week-old daughter near a merry-go-round last Saturday when guards approached.
“I had my daughter on the breast with three people around me berating me for stopping something that I consider a very natural and normal part of life,” Laura told AFP.
“I felt completely vulnerable, totally intimidated and quite scared.”
The incident garnered a lot of attention on social media when another visitor to the park, Mayor, posted a photo to Twitter, and a video of Laura was posted by The Parisian.
Apologies from the park
Disneyland apologized, saying it regretted the situation and that security had not behaved appropriately.
In a tweet, the park reminded fans that it has private spaces dedicated to mothers to feed their babies.
However, young Home Secretary Marlene Schiappa, a women’s rights activist, was quick to hit back at the comment, saying: “Breastfeeding a baby is not a crime. It’s good that you have dedicated rooms, but no one knows when or where a baby will be hungry. “
Laura told AFP she hoped the outrage over her experience would help prevent future incidents of “mum humiliation”.
Low breastfeeding rate
France has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world despite recommendations from the World Health Organization that babies should be exclusively breastfed for six months.
About one in three French children is fed exclusively on infant formula, according to data from the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF.
In May, a mother was slapped for breastfeeding her baby on a street in Bordeaux.
This decision has led to appeals to make it a punishable offense to prevent a mother from breastfeeding her child.
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