A 27-year-old mum has spoken out after two customers at a Costa Coffee branded her a 'slut' for breastfeeding her young son Arthur.
"Nobody has ever called me a slut… I am broken because this has ruined breastfeeding for me"
Speaking after the incident in Brighton Road, Purley, mother-of-one Rhea said: "Arthur was asleep at the time so I went in and ordered us some drinks and cake.
"While we sat there Arthur woke up and he was quite upset and so I started to breastfeed him.
"A couple were on a table that was facing in such a way that they did not have to look at me.
"I heard one of them say 'it is disgusting', that I know what time babies should be fed and should stay at home then, and that I was a 'slut'."
Thankfully, when Rhea told a Costa barista about the incident, they 'reprimanded the couple' and supported the young mum's right to breastfeed in a public place, warning the couple to stop being so abusive.
Speaking about the barista and Costa staff, who ‘told off’ the couple, Rhea said: "It was so good of them - not only to stand by the law on breast-feeding but also to be so supportive of someone feeling so upset."
Rhea later took to her blog drunkonboob to write about the incident, explaining that she fell in love with breastfeeding from the moment she began - but that now it is a 'dirty, evil thing'.
She wrote: "In the space of three days, this beautiful, amazing thing that had changed me and become me, was now this dirty, evil thing that I was being called a slut for.
"Nobody has ever called me a slut… I am broken because this has ruined breastfeeding for me. Is it still beautiful and empowering and brilliant and awesome? I hope so."
A spokesman for Costa said: "Mothers bring in children of all ages to Costa and they are always warmly welcomed by us.
"We have always been very happy for mothers to breast-feed in our stores offering a family-friendly environment that is the perfect place for mums to relax with their children."