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An Australian café has been praised for sticking up for a breastfeeding mother after a customer told her to cover up.
Jessica-Anne Allen, owner of Cheese and Biscuits Café in Queensland, Australia, has described how she was approached by a male customer in the café on Thursday to complain that he was upset by a woman in the coffee shop breastfeeding her child nearby.
The customer asked the café owner, 29, to tell the mother to cover up. When Mrs Allen refused to do so, he took matters into his own hands and challenged the woman himself. Staff at the café then asked the man to leave.
In a post on the café’s Facebook page, staff explained: “We were mortified this morning when someone asked us to say something to the young mother, when we politely declined and informed the customer that we were breastfeeding friendly, they then took it upon themselves to say something.”
“As you can imagine we politely asked the offending customer to leave but it still left the young mother embarrassed.”
Cafe owner Jessica-Anne Allen, pictured here with her husband Stephen, says the response has been overwhelming so far
They said: “It was a male customer that was offended but we would have responded the same way if it was a female customer. The young mother was quietly sitting in the courtyard with her bub and her friends.”
The café has been praised for its positive attitude towards supporting women who breastfeed. Since posting about the incident last Thursday, Cheese and Biscuits’ Facebook post has attracted more than 6,000 likes and received praise from around the world.
One user wrote: “What a fantastic gutsy stand- so many people could learn from you.”
Whilst another wrote: “Excellent and perfect response. Good on you for standing up for women’s rights to breastfeed. Breasts are for feeding babies.”
One young mother posted: “You guys rock, if I didn’t live so far away, you’d be my no 1 coffee spot! From a breastfeeding mum.”
Jessica-Anne told The Independent: "My husband Stephen and I are blown away by the response. If only one person thinks twice before saying something to a breastfeeding mother it will all be worth it!"
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