Frightened mum and newborn trapped in Mothercare: ‘Why didn’t they check if we were still inside?’

‘I had a panic attack in the shop and was scared for my two-week old baby!’

Mothercare incident

by Kayleigh Dray |
Published on

It is a shop designed to put pregnant women and mothers at ease.

Which is why Monica Stoffers was so shocked to find herself and her newborn baby, Ella, trapped in a darkened Mothercare.

Writing on Mothercare's Facebook page, Monica explained that she had been browsing in Plymouth’s massive Drake Circus shopping centre, when she decided to pop into Mothercare.

She explained: “I came in to browse your store with my 2 week old baby.

“She needed feeding, so I went into your feeding room.

“After about 10 minutes the room went pitch black. I couldn't see a thing at all.”

Monica soon realised that the store had been locked up, with her and her little one trapped inside.

Feeling her way through the darkness, she managed to get Ella - who was crying hysterically - safely back into her push chair.

But, as she searched for a way out, the alarms inside the shop - which was in full lockdown mode - were triggered.

Monica wrote: “I managed to feel my way around to get my baby back in to her pram so I could find my way out of the room.

"Once out – and very upset and distressed – I realised that every one had left and the store was completely shut!

"I was banging on a window but the security guard could not hear me

"I got to the door and carried on banging with the alarms now going off too.

"My baby was hysterical at this point and so was I almost.”

Mothercare incident
©Mothercare / Facebook

She continued: “Finally a security guard heard me and got hold of the girls from the shop to come and let us out!

"With a very limp 'I'm sorry, we normally check the rooms', the girls let us out and off we had to go.

"I then had to rush back to meet my family and run to catch my bus home!”

Monica revealed that she had decided to highlight the incident on Mothercare’s Facebook page in a bid to stop a similar incident happening again to another mother.

She said firmly: "I'm not sure if this has been reported back to head office but I thought I should highlight it to you.

"I had a panic attack in the shop and was scared for my two week old baby!

"I cannot believe this has happened and the staff that saw me enter the room did not come back to tell me they needed to shut the shop!

"I hope this is now going to be investigated and I look forward to hearing back from you."

A spokesperson for Mothercare told A Spokesman Said: "Our store team provided comfort and support to a customer after they discovered she was inside the store as it was being closed.

"We appreciate that the whole experience must have been very upsetting for her.

"We will take the opportunity to ensure all our store teams have fully checked there are no customers in store at the time of closing, to avoid this happening again."

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