Breastfeeding mom wants airline apology
A mother from Burnaby B.C. who tweeted a complaint about a United Airlines flight attendant who shamed her for breastfeeding her five-month-old son is hoping her humiliation will serve as a “launching pad for a greater conversation” on the issue at hand.
Kristen Hilderman posted her complaint to Twitter on Monday night and it’s since been retweeted more than 1,800 times and made a favourite by more than 900 people.
According to Hilderman’s complaint, she was breastfeeding her baby aboard a flight from Houston to Vancouver on Sunday when a male flight attendant approached her husband, “tossed” a blanket at him and said, “Here, help her out.”
Hilderman said she went “beet red” and asked, “Help me out with what?” but he didn’t respond.
“I felt so completely embarrassed, uncomfortable and self-conscious for the rest of the flight,” Hilderman wrote in her complaint.
The unwanted attention didn’t stop there. According to Hilderman, passengers had to disembark from the plane as it was diverted to Seattle due to fog, and when she reboarded the aircraft she found a blanket folded up and placed on her seat — “not a single other seat. Just mine,” she wrote.
“Never has anyone made me feel so uncomfortable and ashamed for feeding my baby without putting a cover over his head,” Hilderman said.
Her post has caught the attention of many social media users — the majority of whom were supportive, but others not so much.
And while she finds the negative comments “hurtful,” it only tells her this is a conversation that needs to be had, she said.
“We need to focus more on the issue and not on me,” she said.
While Hilderman is “furious” about her own experience, she believes other nursing mothers have gone through worse.
“People are making it seem like you’re just exposing yourself just for the heck of it — it’s not like that,” she said. “It’s just a woman feeding her child.
“I don’t know what it is people are ... so offended by that they might see the top of my breast — it’s the same amount you would see if I were wearing a tank top.”
And telling her to ‘just cover up’ is “not that easy” either, she said.
“Not all babies will allow it,” she said, adding that her son gets distracted by a blanket and tries to eat it.
United Airlines has contacted Hilderman, first with a tweet and then with a phone call Tuesday morning in which she was told they’d follow up in 48 hours.
While United Airlines didn’t respond to inquiries from The Province, a spokeswoman for the company told CNN that they “welcome nursing mothers on board.”
“We ask that crew members do their best to ensure their comfort and safety,” the spokeswoman told CNN. “We also ask nursing mothers and passengers seated near them to be mindful of one another’s space and comfort.”
However, Hilderman is waiting for a “sincere apology” from the airline and hopes they’ll “clarify their breastfeeding policy.”
“NEVER HAS ANYONE MADE ME FEEL SO UNCOMFORTABLE AND ASHAMED FOR FEEDING MY BABY WITHOUT PUTTING A COVER OVER HIS HEAD.” KRISTEN HILDERMAN