Telford store shuts doors on breastfeeding mum
A mother said she was left to stand breastfeeding her two-week old daughter outside a Telford supermarket – because the manager would not allow her back inside.
Jenna Wiffen had just left the Asda superstore in the centre of Telford after shopping with her three young children on Saturday.
But she was told she could not come back in because the store – which has a cafe and baby-changing facilities – was closing within 15 minutes.
Mrs Wiffen, 28, said she was "disgusted" at the way she was treated after her daughter Iliana began crying for a feed.
"It felt so degrading," she added. "It was quite cold as well so I had to wrap a blanket round her. I had no other choice but to stand up and struggle to feed her in the doorway with loads of people walking past.
"My two other children, eight and four, were there as well so it was really difficult. I am just shocked at what happened."
Asda said there had been a "misunderstanding" and the store had already closed. The company said it would apologise.
Mrs Wiffen, of Woodside in Telford, said she had been out for a meal in the town with her family and decided to pop into Adsa with her children at about 9.30pm.
They were in the store for 15 minutes before leaving to try to catch a taxi home.
But when baby Iliana began crying for a feed, Mrs Wiffen decided to go back into the store for a place to sit, only to be told that she couldn't come inside.
"I tried to ring a taxi but there weren't any available because of the Boyzone concert," Mrs Wiffen said. "So I went to go back in and said I just wanted to feed my baby. This was at about 9.45pm and they said they were closing at 10pm. But the security guard asked the manager and he said 'no'.
"He asked the manager if I could just have a chair and he said no. I was absolutely disgusted. The security guard apologised to me but I had to stand outside by the window and breastfeed my baby outside.
"Then one of the staff came out and said why don't I go inside, and I explained.
"So she went and spoke to the manager too but he still said no."
An Asda spokesman said today: "This is a case of an unfortunate misunderstanding. Although the store was already closed, we do have a policy of supporting mums and their breastfeeding needs and will always try to accommodate individual requests. We are very sorry for any distress this matter caused and we are speaking to Ms Wiffen to apologise directly."
