Heathrow staff shame woman for breastfeeding in toilet after following her in and unlocking door

'This wasn’t about one staff member. It’s a systemic problem'

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A British mother was shamed by airport employees for breastfeeding in an airport toilet after she’d been told by members of staff it was the only space available to her.

Sophie McBain had been looking for somewhere discrete in Heathrow Airport to feed her 10-month-old baby before catching a flight to New York.

Employees directed her towards the baby changing room, however, she opted for a private bathroom instead which she was able to lock.

Writing on Twitter, the journalist recalls how a male employee interrupted her after knocking on the door.

“A male attendant unlocked the door on me, and while my bare breast was still inserted in my pump he told me next time I should leave the door unlocked or pump outside in the main terminal.”

The intrusion left the young mother reeling.

"I felt so exposed and embarrassed. Could a female staff member not be sent?" she wrote.

"Could he not wait until I was unplugged and [dressed]? Can breastfeeding women not have a room to pump undisturbed & in private?"

After contacting Heathrow on Twitter, a spokesperson for the airport responded to McBain with the following statement:

“Having a male bathroom attendant is normal practise and if he had not heard any response from requests to enter he would of thought that someone might have locked this from the outside as a prank, again a common practise from large Terminal that has heavy traffic passing through.

“In this, while it was uncomfortable it was not entirely his fault for entering after warning [sic]”.

Unsatisfied with the airport’s response, McBain explained the main reason she complained was so that other women wouldn’t have to endure a similar experience.

“To explain why I was upset I compared it to someone bursting in on your [sic] while you are on the toilet and then calmly telling you, while your pants are still round your ankles, that you are hogging the public bathroom.

“Also, sticking your breasts into an electric breast pump is so undignified looking I don't even like it when my husband sees me doing it. Why would I want strangers to see this?

“But I made clear I didn’t want to get anyone into trouble, this wasn’t about one staff member. It’s a systemic problem. No thought has been given to breastfeeding travelers, we have no space to pump/BF in private & staff have clearly received no training."

A spokesperson for Heathrow airport has since responded to McBain’s incident with the following apology:

“We apologise for Ms McBain’s experience on her recent journey through Heathrow – in our efforts to keep the changing area safe, we fell short in ensuring she had a comfortable experience at our airport.”