CNN news 2012-01-02 加文本

cnn news 2012-01-02

All right, a bit of an unusual story trending today that we want to tell you about. A nursing mom turned to Facebook for support after she claims employees at a Houston area Target store embarrassed her when she was breastfeeding in public.

So she invited other nursing moms to join her today as a show support for breastfeeding in public. These are pictures from that Texas Target where a handful of supporters turned out and as you can see clearly with their babies in tow.

Michelle Hickman, the mom who rallied these forces joins us on the phone from Houston. Michelle, thanks for joining us. First off, tell us what happened to you.

MICHELLE HICKMAN (via telephone): Basically, I was just nursing my 5- month-old in the Target store when I was, you know, shopping for Christmas stuff on November 29th. And I sat on the Target floor and had a couple Target employees that I actually spoke with and had conversations with.

You know, regarding my role and request for me to move to the sitting room even after telling them what my legal rights were to not have to move, they kept insisting and I kept asking them what Target's policy was and what they were trained to do.

And they said it was, to you know, direct us to the nursing area or I guess official nursing area would be their fitting room in the store. And then, you know, there were another handful of women that they were all women employees were, you know, kind of hovering around the area shaking their head no, making rude faces and, you know, remarks and scowls at me.

The next morning, I called corporate office at Target and I talked to a guest relation specialist there and was told that even though Target is aware of our legal rights to nurse in public wherever the right to be both public or private places in the state of Texas, that women shouldn't be doing it and walking around the store flaunting it.

However, mind you I was sitting down in the store, not a single person came by that was a customer. I was completely covered with a large blanket. So I don't see how they find it that offensive and to that extent to get those types of comments you would think a better trained corporate level guest relations specialist.

SESAY: So, Michelle, let me ask you this. Target offered you a changing room to go into to breastfeed your baby, but you say that you preferred to do it where you were, sitting on the floor there?

Is it that you felt that you were being hidden away, they were trying to hide you away is that why you didn't want to sit in the dressing room?

HICKMAN: This is my fourth child. I have gone at the request of people before with other children before to a dressing room. This isn't the first instant by far that I've had. But the problem with that is that you have a cartful of things and when I came out my cart was gone.

Who wants to re-shop for another hour after you just spent an hour shopping and getting your cart full of stuff when you have kids in tow? That's not exactly a fun thing to do.

So after that happened to me a few times, I just have decided I don't care if they request for me to go a fitting room. I'm not going to go to a fitting room and nurse my baby and then have to re-shop everything all over again. So I just choose not to do it.

SESAY: So let me read the statement that we got from Target. I'm going to read part it and get your response. They say as a family oriented retailer Target has a long standing corporate policy that supports breastfeeding in our stores.

We want everyone to feel comfortable shopping at Target. Guests who choose to breastfeed in public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable.

Additionally, we support the use of fitting rooms for women who wish to breastfeed their babies, even if others are waiting to use the fitting room.

We continually educate our team members in stores across the country on store policies to ensure all guests have a positive feeling. So hearing that, how do you respond? What's your reaction?

HICKMAN: That's the response that I've gotten, you know, from Target as well. That was my official response from them, which, you know, everybody is telling me that's so not an apology, that's basically a reiterate of their breastfeeding policy and stance.

And I welcome that. That's cool that Target has that thing, but the problem is none of the employees know of it and all the employees that have been asked that they never got any training and I actually got a hold of basically the employees are reporting to come in, we get a employee handbook.