New moms know that breastfeeding can be difficult.
When you get the hang of it and feel confident leaving the house, the next hurdle is finding a place where you feel comfortable breastfeeding when you’re out in public.
While some places have parent rooms, not all are well equipped. A prime example is this ‘parents’ room’ in the busy Melbourne airport, which has baffled the internet with its gross failings. And even the airport admits it’s ‘terrible’.
Educator and humorist Kaz Cooke, perhaps best known for her pregnancy guide Up the Duff, uploaded the photo of a chair in the Melbourne Airport ‘parents’ room on Twitter on Tuesday, along with the comment: “This is the chair supposedly intended for. For feeding a baby in a ‘parent’s room’ at Melbourne Airport.
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“No shelves or hooks for a baby bag or handbag, no way to put water within reach, no toilet spray protection or even a seat to lower. Please do much better, @Melair.”
The armrest of the crimson chair was held together with tape in a different shade. The rest of the room was just as depressing—less of a ‘parents’ space’ and more of a large toilet with a seat. The bathroom, with no lid, was only inches away.
Not surprisingly, commentators quickly agreed with Cooke.
“Gross. No one should feed their bub next to a toilet,” one wrote.
“We shouldn’t eat our meal in the bathroom; we shouldn’t be expecting babies,” said another.
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The ‘parents’ room’ was more likely an accessible toilet with a seat. (Twitter)
“Annndd, I never used such crude facilities and fed my baby in the open. I’d pull my breasts out pretty much anywhere. Terrible for mothers who need/want privacy, and it’s ridiculous that ten years after I breastfed, women still have to put up with this shit”, was another comment
Others wondered if the parents’ room was intended for something else.
“Is that an accessible toilet that has become a baby’s room? If so, where do people with disabilities relieve themselves?” asked one commentator.
Fortunately, at least for prospective traveling parents, the calls of disgust appear to have been heard as Melbourne Airport responded to the author’s tweet and comments.
“Thank you for your feedback. You are right that the condition of our facilities has been appalling, which is why we have been upgrading them at our terminals over the past two years,” they wrote.
“We have opened 12 new facilities, including parental ones in terminals one and three. Two more will come online in terminal four in August. We have over 60 facilities in the district, so it’s a big job, But we are on the right track.”
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