Woman Thrown Out of Pedi's Office for Breastfeeding

[meltoine]

She waited an hour past her appointment time, kid got hungry, she was breastfeeding in the waiting room, receptionist asked her to stop, she said no, receptionist cancelled her appointment, she went to the doctor, who called security to escort her out. WTAMF?

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[Willis Jackson]

Oh good grief.

After 3 kids, I'm pretty sure I've nursed in every inch of my pedi's waiting room and in front of every member of their staff.

[rbp]

That is insane.

[6fsn]

Holy cripes. I was leaving the library and saw a sign on the window "breastfeeding welcome here." I had these thoughts at once:
- I wish the sign was bigger to promote breastfeeding
- I hate that they have to state it
- I'm glad I live somewhere this "progressive" In BFE Ohio I probably would have been thrown out of the pedi.

[Deleted]

Is it weird that I'm a bit suspicious of the actual truth in this story?

[winemaker06]

'that's what pumping is for' ?
Oh people. I would love to lug around a pump, hook it all up, and sit there doing that while my baby cries the whole time because they're hungry Right Now. Because that's better for everyone.

This whole situation angers me so much. I've told DH that I just dare someone to try this with me in public! (but I am chicken and use a cover anyway so it's unlikely)

[ECB]

Oct 25, 2014 7:57:16 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

Is it weird that I'm a bit suspicious of the actual truth in this story?

this is just SOOOO over the top that I'm having a hard time with it.

[Deleted]

Oct 25, 2014 8:02:27 GMT -5 ECB said:

Oct 25, 2014 7:57:16 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

Is it weird that I'm a bit suspicious of the actual truth in this story?

this is just SOOOO over the top that I'm having a hard time with it.

I know. That's where I am. 
I have the feeling the receptionist may have asked her to cover up (which still isn't right but not necessarily an unreasonable request either) and the girl in the story kind of went beligerent on her? The dr. kicked out for storming back rather than breastfeeding? 

I don't know...but highly doubt any pedi at a University medical center would do this.

[bananapancakes]

That's absolutely ridiculous! She definitely shouldn't have gone back to the exam rooms to confront the doctor but the receptionist shouldn't have asked her to stop (or even cover up) and cancelled her appointment. That's crazy!

[sjh722]

They shouldn't have asked her to stop nursing in the lobby, but it sounds like she was thrown out for storming back to the doctor's office and confronting her there. She's lucky they didn't call the police, lol. She does not sound...entirely rational.

[Velar Fricative]

Oct 25, 2014 8:01:00 GMT -5 winemaker06 said:

'that's what pumping is for' ?
Oh people. I would love to lug around a pump, hook it all up, and sit there doing that while my baby cries the whole time because they're hungry Right Now. Because that's better for everyone.

This whole situation angers me so much. I've told DH that I just dare someone to try this with me in public! (but I am chicken and use a cover anyway so it's unlikely)

And newsflash to that moron - still gotta whip out the boobs to pump too, so...

I think the woman might be exaggerating a bit but the hospital did regret whatever actions they took so I don't think the hospital was anywhere near innocent in any of this either. You know how this drama could have been avoided? If the receptionist had just told the complainers "too bad, so sad." Sure, they could have caused a scene too but the law is the law.

[redpenmama]

Oct 25, 2014 7:57:16 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

Is it weird that I'm a bit suspicious of the actual truth in this story?

I sort of am too -- only because it is so crazy. The pedi really threatened to have her arrested for being in her office? The receptionist was yelling at her? I hope it's not true, but if it is, that poor mother. Hopefully that office loses a lot of patients (though I doubt it will).

[barefootcontessa]

Oct 25, 2014 7:59:23 GMT -5 gravytrain225 said:

Oct 25, 2014 7:57:16 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

Is it weird that I'm a bit suspicious of the actual truth in this story?

Nope, I'm here too.  

me too.  

[GotWine]

This sounds a bit too one sided. I have a hard time believing a medical office of any sort, especially a pediatrician's office would take offence to breast feeding. I always hear these anti- public b/f stories and I have never heard of anyone IRL experiencing it. I don't see a lot of women b/f in public, but I have never seen anyone shamed for doing so. All of my friends who have nursed in public never had any issues. I feel like the stories of women being shamed for b/f get so much attention it makes it seem like it is a more common experience than it really is.

[VillainV]

I didn't read the article...but re: "That's what pumping is for" I would assume that comment means one should pump ahead of time and take bottles everywhere, not that one should whip a pump out in a waiting room. IME people are more squicked out by a mom pumping than they are by BFing.

[statlerwaldorf]

Oct 25, 2014 7:53:24 GMT -5 6fsn said:

Holy cripes. I was leaving the library and saw a sign on the window "breastfeeding welcome here." I had these thoughts at once:
- I wish the sign was bigger to promote breastfeeding
- I hate that they have to state it
- I'm glad I live somewhere this "progressive" In BFE Ohio I probably would have been thrown out of the pedi.

I live in BFE Ohio and have nursed all over town without any issues other than some nasty looks. I nursed ds in the pedi office before when his appointment ran late. I nursed him through the office and to the room when they called him. It's still not very common here. When I delivered, I was the only one on the floor that even attempted to breastfeed.

Did they say if the doctor with another patient? I don't think her barging in the back was appropriate, but I would be angry if my appointment was running late and I was confronted for feeding my child.

[speckledfrog]

I also had doubts about her side of the story, but who knows. There are morons everywhere.

You know what you should do if someone's nursing is make you uncomfortable? Stop looking at her. Walla.

[hermione]

I don't know. the hospital spokesperson makes it sound like this may actually be true in some sense. Totally fucked up.

[biogirl21]

Oct 25, 2014 9:20:27 GMT -5 VillainV said:

I didn't read the article...but re: "That's what pumping is for" I would assume that comment means one should pump ahead of time and take bottles everywhere, not that one should whip a pump out in a waiting room. IME people are more squicked out by a mom pumping than they are by BFing.

I was thinking that too. But based on the baby's age, you can't just skip a feeding, ya know? So they all seem really uneducated on BFing(ok, they probably are really uneducated on BFing).

The whole thing is crazy. If there's one place I would assume I would be safe to nip, it would be my ped's office!

[Blue Moon]

What?! That's ridiculous. I can't believe breastfeeding wouldn't be openly welcomed in a pedi's office of all places. My pedi always invites me to stay and nurse if I need to comfort my crying child.

[Stingyshark]

Oct 25, 2014 7:57:16 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

Is it weird that I'm a bit suspicious of the actual truth in this story?

No.
My initial thought is, "this can't be true."
Just can't.

I've nursed almost every time we've had a well check... Not in the waiting room, but I would.

[krystee]

Oct 25, 2014 10:10:58 GMT -5 @applesauce said:

After reading the article, I believe it. Yeah, it sounds like they called security on her after she entered an area she wasn't supposed to be, but before that, the receptionist threatened to cancel her appointment if she didn't stop, cover up, or go to a back room. The woman said she refused so the receptionist cancelled the appointment, which is absolutely ridiculous not to mention illegal. Obviously going to an area you aren't supposed to be in isn't the best idea, but I would have been fucking livid and I'm sure I wouldn't have been thinking very rationally by that point either.

Hospital Spokesperson Eric Finley told KCBD, “Unfortunately there were some other people in the waiting room who were uncomfortable with [Peña’s breastfeeding].”

Finley says Peña was asked to cover up, and when she refused, she went back to complain to the doctor and entered an area where she was not allowed to be — he says that is why she was asked to leave. “But still,” he acknowledges, “had we acted more appropriately this never would have happened.”

It doesn't make sense to me that she would refuse and then go back to complain to the doctor without anything else happening after she refused. If I was breastfeeding and refused to cover up and they dropped it, I would have kept breastfeeding and saved my complaining for meeting with the doctor at the appointment.

For those of you who don't believe it, why not?

I believe they asked her to stop, which is bad (and illegal) enough. But given that she yelled at the receptionist to get out of her face (by her own admission in a FB account), I wonder if the canceled appointment was due to a belligerent reaction and not that she wouldn't stop BFing.

[readyin07]

Good God. In a pedi office? That is one place you should know you can bf without issue. i was never great at nursing in public but even I have done it at my pedi's when wait times were long.

It's tough. I mean, I am really passive. I probably would have been pissed but stopped and gone where they told me to and bitched later. BUT legally I sure don't have to so I can see if someone told me to stop and i polity said no I was within my legal rights to keep on and I kept getting harassed and pushed back on then I might get belligerent.

[Deleted]

I think someone probably did complain to the receptionist, who agreed and jumped on that as an excuse to illegally ask this woman to cover or move to another place. That is 100% plausible to me. Then the mom asserted her legal right to not move or cover and everything went crazy.

The thing is, the mom isn't required to be nice. The office is required to allow her to breastfeed freely. I'm glad she's moving forward with a lawsuit.

The receptionist should have offered to relocate the complainer to a waiting room or bathroom for their comfort.

[6fsn]

Oct 25, 2014 9:25:46 GMT -5 statlerwaldorf said:

Oct 25, 2014 7:53:24 GMT -5 6fsn said:

Holy cripes. I was leaving the library and saw a sign on the window "breastfeeding welcome here." I had these thoughts at once:
- I wish the sign was bigger to promote breastfeeding
- I hate that they have to state it
- I'm glad I live somewhere this "progressive" In BFE Ohio I probably would have been thrown out of the pedi.

I live in BFE Ohio and have nursed all over town without any issues other than some nasty looks. I nursed ds in the pedi office before when his appointment ran late. I nursed him through the office and to the room when they called him. It's still not very common here. When I delivered, I was the only one on the floor that even attempted to breastfeed.

Did they say if the doctor with another patient? I don't think her barging in the back was appropriate, but I would be angry if my appointment was running late and I was confronted for feeding my child.

Sorry if I sounded like I was coming down on bfe ohio.  It was a revenue to the specific bfe I lived in.  I experienced a lot of backlash even using a cover.

[carolinagirl831]

That is nuts and I seriously can't imagine a drs office doing that!

[stealthmom]

Oct 25, 2014 15:19:38 GMT -5 carolinagirl831 said:

That is nuts and I seriously can't imagine a drs office doing that!

it was the receptionist. I can TOTALLY imagine an ignorant asshole receptionist doing it.

[MrsAggie]

Oct 25, 2014 10:53:48 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

I think someone probably did complain to the receptionist, who agreed and jumped on that as an excuse to illegally ask this woman to cover or move to another place. That is 100% plausible to me. Then the mom asserted her legal right to not move or cover and everything went crazy.

The thing is, the mom isn't required to be nice. The office is required to allow her to breastfeed freely. I'm glad she's moving forward with a lawsuit.

The receptionist should have offered to relocate the complainer to a waiting room or bathroom for their comfort.

I agree the receptionist was probably an uninformed idiot and I LOVE your suggestion of asking the complainer to be relocated.

I disagree with the mom not having to be nice though. I've had security officers lecture me about how I (as a medical professional) do not get paid to take abuse and should never have to feel threatened at my job. If she went BSC then I would have called security, regardless of the reason for the anger. The poor doctor probably didn't even know wtf was going on when some enraged woman came storming into the back.

[Deleted]

Oct 25, 2014 16:34:47 GMT -5 MrsAggie said:

Oct 25, 2014 10:53:48 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

I think someone probably did complain to the receptionist, who agreed and jumped on that as an excuse to illegally ask this woman to cover or move to another place. That is 100% plausible to me. Then the mom asserted her legal right to not move or cover and everything went crazy.

The thing is, the mom isn't required to be nice. The office is required to allow her to breastfeed freely. I'm glad she's moving forward with a lawsuit.

The receptionist should have offered to relocate the complainer to a waiting room or bathroom for their comfort.

I agree the receptionist was probably an uninformed idiot and I LOVE your suggestion of asking the complainer to be relocated.

I disagree with the mom not having to be nice though. I've had security officers lecture me about how I (as a medical professional) do not get paid to take abuse and should never have to feel threatened at my job. If she went BSC then I would have called security, regardless of the reason for the anger. The poor doctor probably didn't even know wtf was going on when some enraged woman came storming into the back.

I tend to get a little upset and angry when my legal right to breastfeed is infringed upon. Know how to avoid it? Don't do illegal things to me.