A Plateau woman says a mall security guard told her to stop breastfeeding at the Place Montreal Trust food court.
“I was extremely upset and offended,” said Theresa Hunter, the mother of two children including her four-and-a-half-month-old son, Eisley.
Hunter said she went to the mall’s food court Wednesday, and that she started breastfeeding the infant as she sat by the large fountain close to the elevator. That’s when she said security approached her and directed her to the mall’s breastfeeding room, telling her she couldn’t breastfeed there.
This is the second such incident that’s occurred at the mall in the past three years.
“For things like this to continue happening in such a cosmopolitan city as Montreal, it’s hard to believe,” said Renée Boudreau, who co-owns a cafe for new mothers.
“It’s shocking.”
When contacted by Global News, mall officials said the incident was an unfortunate mistake.
“The agent should not have stopped her from breastfeeding,” the mall’s administration said in an email to Global News. “For that reason, we apologize.”
“All mothers are invited to breastfeed anywhere they want at all of our shopping centres.”