A breastfeeding mother who complained after a male toilet attendant unlocked a baby-changing room she was using at Heathrow Airport from the outside has revealed her anger at the ‘non-apology’ she says she received.
British mother Sophie McBain, who lives in New York, has seen her story go viral after she says she was left feeling ’embarrassed and exposed’ by the incident – and further frustrated by an ‘excuse-laden’ email from the airport’s customer service team.
McBain said the response spurred her on to tweet about it, in the hope that it will highlight the work that still needs to be done to help nursing mothers in public buildings.
British mother Sophie McBain, who lives in New York, took to Twitter after she complained about a male toilet attendant walking in on her while she was pumping milk at Heathrow Airport ahead of a long flight (Stock photo used)
After initially deciding not to go public on Twitter about her experience at one of the world’s busiest airports, she changed her mind when she read the airport’s response to her complaint
The mother explained to her followers that she had decided to pump some milk at the London airport ahead of a long flight.
After being advised to use the baby-changing facilities within the airport terminal, she began pumping but claims she experienced an awkward exchange when a male attendant knocked on the door but didn’t hear her respond.
He then asked a ‘staff member’ to unlock the door and walked in on her, telling her she should have either left the door unlocked or pumped within the public areas of the terminal.
McBain says insult to injury was added after she wrote a letter to the airport’s customer service department complaining about the incident.
The response, which was badly composed, said: ‘While it was uncomfortable it was not entirely his fault for entering after warning.’
It continued: ‘With that said, every passenger should be treated with courtesy and respect, meaning we expect our staff to be professional, helpful and polite at all times.’
After failing to hear that McBain was inside the cubicle, the male attendant asked a staff member to open the door, something the airport said was a regular occurrence if staff suspected ‘a prank’
‘Excuse-filled’: In a letter derided for being poorly written by many, McBain’s response from Heathrow Airport left her even angrier after she was told it was ‘normal practice’ for an attendant to behave in the way the man she encountered did
Sophie told followers on Twitter that the problem was ‘systemic’ saying that she did not blame the attendant in question for the awkward encounter
The airport told the New York-based mother that the attendant may have thought the toilet being locked ‘was a prank’ after he didn’t hear McBain respond from outside the cubicle
The mother, who says she hadn’t planned to tweet about the experience but changed her mind after reading Heathrow’s response told The Huffington Post: ‘The reason I am so upset and annoyed is because clearly Heathrow has given no thought to the needs of breastfeeding women.’
She added: ‘From my perspective what’s really important is that this isn’t about one male attendant’s awkward reaction – he was probably expecting an empty cubicle and we sometimes say weird things when caught off guard.’
Many on Twitter shared their frustration over the experience. @EmmaElinor tweeted: ‘I’m so sorry and angry to hear what happen and to read the reply. It’s so infuriating that so many spaces aren’t fitted for the needs of people with small children, whether parents are travelling with them or not. Tiny changes can make an enormous difference.’
@O_edipus added: ‘It’s quite telling that an official response from one of the first public bodies one comes comes into contact on entering the UK contains spelling mistakes such as “would of”.’
A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said: ‘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.’