Mom says she was shamed for breastfeeding in waiting room; hospital apologizes

A new mother said she was publicly shamed at UPMC Shadyside for breastfeeding in public.

Crystal Martin said she was in a waiting room for a doctor’s appointment when a receptionist told her to go into a private room because no one wanted to see her breastfeeding her 10-month-old son.

“I was just sitting there, feeding him, watching the news, looking around the waiting room, minding my own business,” Martin said.

She said the receptionist walked up to her after unlocking a private room and asked her if she wanted to go into the room to finish nursing.

“I said, ‘Oh no, we’re fine,’ because I thought she was trying to be nice, because it’s not unheard of when you’re breastfeeding for someone to ask if you’d like a private room because some people are uncomfortable in public. So I just went about my business and five or 10 minutes after that, she was still standing there and she said, ‘Well I need you to go in there now because I have work that I need to get back to doing,'” Martin said.

She said everyone in the waiting room turned and stared at them.

“(The receptionist) just said that people out there in the waiting room didn’t want to see me breastfeeding or doing 'that,' she called it, and I just said, ‘No. I’m not going in there,’” Martin said.

Martin filed a complaint with the woman’s supervisor and a UPMC patient advocate. Officials from UPMC said they are looking into the incident.

"It's just so backwards. You can flaunt the Kardashians all over TV like it's no big deal and then when there's someone breastfeeding their child, which is natural -- that's what breasts are for -- we make a big deal about it, and it shouldn't be,” Martin said.

In Pennsylvania, breastfeeding mothers are protected by the law to nurse whenever they want, whether or not they are covered.

In a statement, UPMC officials said, “UPMC fully supports breastfeeding as an option for moms and babies. We take pride in providing a safe and caring environment for our patients and visitors.  The behavior described is not in line with our standards of care. We apologized to the patient and we are committed to further educating staff to avoid a similar occurrence.”

Cox Media Group