'Upset' restaurant customer calls police on breastfeeding mom

Elise Solé
Updated

A restaurant customer called 911 on a breastfeeding mother for not wearing a cover.

According to a police report sent to Yahoo Lifestyle by the Sharonville Police Department in Ohio, a customer at Alreddy Coffee & Café placed the call on Friday. "Next thing we know, the police are at the door," restaurant owner Viktoria Reddy told The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Reddy told the paper that the customer was "not being quiet" and got frustrated with an employee. However, when officers responded to the call, the nursing mother had already settled her bill and left.

The police reportedly told the distressed customer that breastfeeding in public is legal. According to Ohio state law, a “mother is entitled to breastfeed her baby in any location of a place of public accommodation wherein the mother is otherwise permitted.”

"The customers did end up leaving, not eating, and kind of upset that it wasn't taken more seriously for them. I don't know," Reddy told WLWT.

The owner was disappointed by the scene. "I just pray that it's a place that people just feel comfortable, and I want it to be a place that's, the food's healthy," Reddy told WLWT.

The business owner did not respond to Yahoo Lifestyle for comment.

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month in Ohio and the first week in August is World Breastfeeding Week.

Last month, a woman accused a lifeguard at an Indiana water park of “breastfeeding shaming” when he allegedly told her, “Ma’am you’re not allowed to breastfeed out here — you need to go to the locker room to do that.”

And a breastfeeding mother flying on KLM Airlines in July, quoted a crew member telling her, "If you want to continue doing the breastfeeding, you need to cover yourself." Although the mother filed a formal complaint with the carrier, it didn’t do much.

An airline rep told USA Today, "To keep the peace on board, in such cases we will try to find a solution that is acceptable to everyone and that shows respect for everyone's comfort and personal space. This may involve a request to a mother to cover her breast."

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