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Outraged Bride-To-Be Claims She Was Told To Breastfeed Baby On Street, To Avoid Spurting Milk On Wedding Dresses

The latest in a long line of stories about women who have had difficulty breastfeeding in public – or been shamed by others for doing it

A mum has claimed that a couture bridal shop owner told her she wasn’t allowed to breastfeed her baby inside the store – for fear of ‘spurting breast milk all over the dresses.’

Josephine Fenton, 28, travelled from her home in Honsley, near Huddersfield, to Jean Jackson Couture’s studio in Manchester after discovering it stocked her dream wedding dress.

But her visit was fraught with anxiety after the mum claims the shop owner's mother told her she couldn’t feed her seven-month-old daughter, Ella, inside the studio.

Fenton's claims have been denied by the bridal shop. [Rex]
Fenton's claims have been denied by the bridal shop. [Rex]



“I called the company a number of times before my appointment and never heard back,” Fenton told Manchester Evening News. “Then when I got them on the phone five minutes before my appointment I explained that I might need to breastfeed Ella.  

“The owner’s mum said I ‘would spurt milk all over the dresses',” she continued. “I had my loudspeaker on in the car and my fiancée, James, got very upset. I was just shocked.”

Fenton said she then struggled to feed her daughter because she was feeling incredibly anxious. She left her baby with her fiancée and went to the appointment with her sister, where she explained that her daughter might need a feed.

“We got there and I explained that James might pop by with Ella as she might need feeding,” says Fenton. “The owner’s mum was acting quite rudely. She was treating me like there was something wrong with me because I was breastfeeding.

“The she said I could not feed Ella there, and if she needed feeding I would have to do it on the street. I was so shocked after the appointment I had to check with [her sister] to see if she had really said that.

“I still tried the dress on because it was the one for me and I really had my heart set on it. At first I would have put the spurting comment down to a misjudgement and put it to the back of my mind, but after the second comment about breastfeeding out on the street I was just so shocked. They kept treating me as if I had been the horrible one.”

The bridal gown shop has received a huge amount of support on their Facebook page. [Facebook/Jean Jackson Couture]
The bridal gown shop has received a huge amount of support on their Facebook page. [Facebook/Jean Jackson Couture]

Fenton proceeded to leave a comment on the company’s Facebook page, writing that all she really wants ‘is an apology from them.’ She added that she wouldn’t accept the dress even if they offered it to her free. However, she since claims that her post has been deleted.

The bridal gown company has denied the claims made against them and says they’re taking legal action over the comments.

“Josephine visited us and seemed happy,” the store’s owner, Felicity Jackson, said. “She was never told she would spurt milk or to go out on the street. We have a waiting area where she would have been fine to breastfeed, with water, chairs and toilet facilities.

“We are very upset by what happened after her visit, Josephine and her friends have posted many messages on our Facebook page which we feel are unjust, and we have consulted a solicitor about their content."

The businesswoman added that she’s been trading for 17 years and ‘never had any complaints.’

“If we knew Josephine was breastfeeding we might have asked her to put back her appointment as a lot of our dresses require you to take your bra off,” she said. “But we use our common sense, and people have visited who are breastfeeding or have children before and always left happy.”

Have you had a negative breastfeeding experience? Let us know in the comments below.

[Woman Admits To Breastfeeding Her Seven-Year-Old Daughter]

[Brelfie Backlash: Mums Fight Against Breastfeeding Selfie Trend With ‘Bressure’ Campaign]