Author sparks outrage after comparing public breastfeeding to urinating in the street

"I don’t want people to start engaging in bodily functions that have usually been kept private"

An author has caused outrage after comparing public breastfeeding to urinating in the street.

Speaking on This Morning on Wednesday, journalist Virginia Blackburn called the act “anti-social” and said it should be kept private.

The comments came during an intense debate between Blackburn and two mothers, Natalie Forester and Chloe Hattersley, who were asked to stop nursing their children in a swimming pool.

Forrester, who was attending a baby swimming lesson with her son in Stoke-On-Trent leisure centre, says she moved to the corner of the pool as soon as she realised he needed to be fed.

However, Forrester says she was promptly asked by the instructor to get out of the pool before breastfeeding.

Recounting the incident, Forrester explained she was only waist down in the water, adding: “I was really shocked because in the eight years that I’ve been breastfeeding for it was the first time that anyone has ever said anything.”

Blackburn agreed with the leisure centre’s decision to ask the mother to leave the pool, saying that people “don’t want to see” mothers breastfeeding their babies.

Natalie Forester and Chloe Hattersley entered a heated debate with Virginia Blackburn (ITV/This Morning)

“It’s on a level with urinating in the street,” she said.

“You have a path that leads to increasingly anti-social behaviour and I’d say it’s on that path. If I’m sitting in a cafe or a swimming pool I don’t want people to start engaging in bodily functions that have usually been kept private.”

“It’s about consideration for other people. If you are in a public place it’s not something you necessarily want to see. I don’t like breastfeeding in public at all.”

Blackburn’s comments quickly sparked outrage, instigating a number of disgruntled viewers to share their thoughts on social media.

“What a snob this woman is on This Morning. How can feeding your child be disrespectful to others? Get this woman off, she’s rude and disrespectful,” one person said.

Another added: “I’m absolutely outraged. I breastfed my child for 13 months. In public. It’s 2018! People should be offering support and praising mothers to breastfeed wherever they choose to.”

Addressing the issue, Stoke-on-Trent City Council said in a statement: “Our policy is that we ask people not to eat or drink in the pool and we ask people not to breastfeed.

“We have many areas at our poolside where breastfeeding can take place and actively support this, we are reviewing our existing policy and have invited Natalie and Chloe to be part of that review."