Woman forced to pump milk next to toilet in Qantas lounge
Qantas is in hot water for not providing adequate space for travelling women to breastfeed or ‘express milk’.
According to the Courier Mail, software executive and mother of two, Kathy Smith, was forced to express milk next to a toilet with no lid and several sanitary bins at the Qantas club lounge in Melbourne Airport.
Smith was returning home from an interstate business trip after the birth of her second child when she posted photos of the bathroom, where she had to express milk, on social media.
“I was flying to Melbourne for a 90-minute meeting and was in the Qantas Lounge,” Smith told the Courier Mail.
“I needed to pump milk and found that my only options were to bare my breasts and plug in at the lounge itself, go to a shower area which had no seat, or pump away beside the toilet and bins in a parents’ room,”
Smith Pays $510 a year for her lounge membership and has complained to the airline for not providing adequate space.
The Australian Breastfeeding Association recommends nursing areas should be as hygienic as food preparation areas because essentially that’s what expressing mothers are doing – preparing food for their baby.
A Qantas spokesperson says staff and crew members always do their best to help new mothers and fathers.
“Our staff are trained to assist mothers by providing them with a comfortable and private space in the lounge where they can breastfeed or express,” he told the Courier Mail.
“There are many working mothers in Australia and surely a respected company like Qantas can cater for their needs,” said Smith.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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