A NEW mother has praised Tesco for offering to fetch her seat while she breastfed her newborn baby in the soft drinks aisle.
Sam Mason was shocked when a staff member at the Carmarthen store in Wales offered her a chair so she could carry on feeding nine-week-old Ebony-Rose yesterday.
The 34-year-old mum-of-four said she usually tries to time feeds for when she is in the café as she felt nervous breastfeeding in public.
But little Ebony-Rose decided while shopping that she wasn’t going to wait, so Sam quickly spotted a supermarket stool to sit on so she could settle her and feed her.
Within minutes a member of staff appeared and offered to bring a more comfortable seat to make Sam and Ebony-Rose more comfortable.
Sam snapped a photo showing her little one content and feeding while cuddled into her mum.
Speaking today she said: “My nine-week-old decided she wasn’t waiting for a feed so I sat on one of the little stools in the pop aisle to feed her and the staff member came up and said they had chairs at the front of the store.
“I said I was okay thank you and she offered to go get me one if I needed or preferred and said anything I needed or wanted to just ask a member of staff.
“I was shocked to be honest, I didn’t expect it.”
Sam has three older sons, but said Ebony-Rose has been the first child she has breast fed.
She added: “It’s my first baby to breastfeed so I was a bit nervous yesterday, as I usually make sure feeding time is when I’m in a café.
“There were quite a few people there. One lady said ‘when they want a feed, you have to feed.
“It’s going good, it was hard at times as she wasn’t gaining weight and they were worried but she’s gaining nice now thank god.”
Sam shared the photo on Facebook – thanking staff at the branch for their understanding and being so accommodating.
She wrote: “Want to say thank you to staff at Tesco Carmarthen who offered to get me a chair when they seen me sit on a small stool to feed my boob monster.
“They were very understanding and friendly and said anything I need to just ask thank you once again. Made me feel at ease as [it was my] first time breastfeeding.”
Last year it was revealed that the UK remains one of the countries with the lowest breastfeeding rate in the world.
And in 2018 a survey by The Baby Show revealed that 93% of new parents said mums should be able to breastfeed wherever they are.
However, 85% of mums said they didn’t feel comfortable breastfeeding in public due to the stigma surrounding it.
A Tesco spokeswoman today said: “Our colleagues at our Carmarthen store were pleased to offer Sam a more comfortable spot to feed her little one yesterday”.
