Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Free tea while feeding baby
A cafe has been praised for offering free tea to breastfeeding mums.
Burgate Coffee House in Canterbury city centre has launched the initiative in a bid to create a quiet, welcoming space for mums to feed their babies. A sign in its window reads: “Breastfeeding mums. Pop in.
Have a free cup of tea if you need a pit stop. No need to eat, no need to ask. Just come in and relax!”
Luisa Vicent, a mum-of-three who owns the cafe with her husband Antonio Bolivar says she was inspired by a similar sign she spotted at another cafe, years ago.
“I wasn’t breastfeeding at the time and thought it was a really good idea,” she said. “Now I’m a breastfeeding mum myself, I’ve found out that there are not so many breastfeeding places in this area.
“We thought it was a good idea to do it in Canterbury, because we don’t really have breastfeeding-friendly places here. “It’s so hard sometimes for to find a quiet place that’s really welcoming. We’ve got a few mums already who’ve come here to have a tea, and we love being around babies anyway.” The initiative was launched at the start of August, to coincide with World Breastfeeding Week, but Mrs Vicent says they plan to keep running it permanently. The idea has been met with huge enthusiasm.
Mum Jade Binstead, a business owner who says she frequently has to work from cafes while breastfeeding, said: “Oh my goodness this is lovely. You don’t know how many times I had to buy a tea I didn’t want to sit and feed indoors.”
Mrs Vicent says the initiative will be offered to mums who are bottle-feeding too.
“It says it’s just for breastfeeding mums because you can bottle feed anywhere - you don’t need to hide.
“People would tell me on the buses that I shouldn’t be doing that in public. And that’s a shame because it’s a natural thing to do. That’s why we started this. But of course all mums are welcome.” ”