National Breastfeeding Weeks kicks off this Saturday – an event that aims to educate, enlighten and last, but not least, normalize breastfeeding to everyone.
It seems Dublin Airport haven’t quite got the memo, however, as they recently put up a sign asking breastfeeding mothers to “use discretion and respect the privacy of others.”
Say what?!
Yup. This sign was put up on the door into a new ‘dedicated baby feeding room’ for mothers and families traveling through Terminal 2 of Dublin Airport:
Twitter used Marguerite Sinnott was quick to tweet the DAA when she spotted the offensive sign, asking them to explain.
@DublinAirport so very very disappointed to see the below sign. Can you explain? pic.twitter.com/4oW04Mswf8
— marguerite sinnott (@rite20) September 27, 2016
The Airport Authorities were quick to defend the sign, claiming to TheJournal.ie that the wording could have been better, but that it was intended to encourage people to respect the privacy of the mums using the room to feed their babies.
“There is no lock on the door to the baby feeding room and the reason for the sign was to indicate that anyone waiting outside to use the room should respect the privacy of those inside the facility feeding their children.”
They also admitted it was “a poorly-written sign that was being misconstrued” and removed it a couple of days later, but claim they did not receive any complaints about the sign while it was up.
Head of External Communications for Dublin Airport, Siobhán O’Donnell, said that the creation of the family room was based on customer feedback, and that when asked about how their experience at Dublin Airport could be enhanced, many travelers would bring up the issue of mothers wishing to feed babies.
A room for this purpose was then created, and has according to O’Donnell been warmly welcomed by many families traveling through the terminal.
Dublin Airport has previously said that they ”welcome breastfeeding mothers throughout all areas of the airport and also has private rooms available for baby feeding if required”.
What do YOU think, mamas? How would you have reacted if you had spotted this sign up? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @Herfamilydotie
