A new mum say she was forced to leave Zizzi restaurant after asking if she could breastfeed her daughter at a private table.
Natalie Goodwin had taken 13-week-old Annabelle to a branch Leicester’s Highcross shopping centre and had planned to meet her husband there for lunch.
But she was left upset and angry when members of staff asked her to leave the building after she confronted them about their 'odd' policy.
She told LeicestershireLive: “Annabelle was crying so I went ahead thinking I could feed her at the restaurant. We wanted to eat there because we had a voucher.
“It was very busy and we hadn’t booked but I asked if I could sit down just to feed Annabelle.
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“I pointed to a free, small table and I told the lady I was speaking to that it would be perfect because it was a bit more private than the other tables.
“She said no. She said those tables were for couples only and I couldn’t sit there.
“She said she would clear a larger table for me and my family but Annabelle was crying and I asked again if I could just sit for a while at the couples’ table, and she said no, so I asked for the manager.
“I just didn’t understand the ‘couples only’ section – it’s really, really odd.”
The incident, on Sunday, February 2, was made all the more frustrating for Natalie because she works as a midwife.
A large part of her job involves urging new mums to breastfeed their infants and feel confident doing it in public.
Natalie, 30, who lives in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, said: “The manager came out and I was told again they would clear the larger table but it was very exposed. I was getting irritated and emotional.
“She could see I was angered and she asked me to leave.”
Natalie said that she asked the manager: “Are you asking me to leave?”
She said the manager replied: “Just leave the restaurant.”
“I walked out and we went across to Frankie & Benny’s and they were just lovely," said Natalie.
She complained to Zizzi after the incident and was initially offered a £25 voucher.
“I said I didn’t think the response was adequate – they fobbed me off as if I’d just found a hair in my food. This is so serious," she said.
“I told them that their staff needed educating – this would be enough to put another woman off breastfeeding.
“They just made me feel stupid and humiliated me.”
A spokeswoman for Zizzi said: “We were concerned when Natalie got in touch to tell us about her experience at Zizzi Leicester Highcross.
“At Zizzi, we pride ourselves on delivering excellent support and empathy to our customers, and we are concerned that we fell short of this in Natalie’s case by not offering her more flexibility.
“As a company, we aim for best practice in the way we accommodate breastfeeding mothers. We will continue to champion this going forwards.
“We have already been in touch with Natalie to apologise and discuss her concerns.
“She is satisfied that we have taken her feedback seriously and are putting further actions in place to support breastfeeding mothers and their families.”
