Ohio Museum Apologizes After Employees Tell Woman To Stop Breastfeeding

An Ohio museum is clarifying that mothers are welcome to nurse their children on the property, after employees told a visiting woman that she had to stop breastfeeding.

The woman was visiting the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Cleveland History Center for her sister’s wedding last weekend, reports Cleveland.com. The group was taking photos and she’d paused to nurse her 9-month-old son.

“Not long after I began, I was approached by a woman who told me ‘You aren’t allowed to do that here,'” she wrote in a Facebook post.

She said the worker told her it was against museum policy to breastfeed, but she refused to move. The worker said she’d get her manager, at which point another worker arrived and told her to move to a private area. The woman said she wanted to stay with her family.

“She then told me it was a family museum,” she wrote. “I explained this is a family moment. She then told me she was just trying to protect the innocent children. I was pretty shocked.”

The Western Reserve Historical Society says there is no policy against breastfeeding at the center, and mothers are welcome to nurse their children anywhere on the premises.

“We are a family institution and welcome to all,” history center Director Angie Lowrie told Cleveland.com. “It is a safe place to come with a family, and women have every right to feed their children.”

She says she saw the guest’s post shortly after it hit Facebook and wrote a comment apologizing.

“We are a family museum and do not, in fact, have a policy against breastfeeding at the museum,” she wrote. “We are sorry that the misinformation of a few staff members created such a negative experience.”

The woman replied, accepting the apology, and said she may visit the center again.

“I hope to find the warm and accepting atmosphere there that I did not on this visit,” she wrote. “I think the story here is that more women need to feel confident in their rights so these incidents become fewer and further between.”

Western Reserve Historical Society says it welcomes breastfeeding moms, after backlash when mother told to stop [Cleveland.com]