I’d love to know people’s opinions on this as it’s been in my mind ever since Sonia and I went to The Baby Show the other weekend.

I don’t breastfeed but my sister does and so when it was time to feed Maxwell and Oscar we went to the breastfeeding area which was lovely. Very quiet, lovely comfy chairs etc and so we settled down and started feeding our babies.

A few other ladies came in and started feeding their baby including a Muslim lady who was wearing a full hijab. She must have assumed this was a female sanctuary as she removed her face veil and started breastfeeding her baby aswell.

Shortly after this another lady came into the area and her husband came in with her. You could see the Muslim lady felt very uncomfortable to be seen by a strange man both without her veil and breastfeeding and I felt very uncomfortable for her. This was then made worse as the man was trying to negotiate a pram past her and proceeding to go up to her and ask If he could move her pushchair out of the way. At this stage I felt really sorry for the lady as you could tell she was feeling really really uncomfortable.

My question is, should breastfeeding areas be a female only sanctuary or is it acceptable for men to accompany women into them? I know some women use these areas because they are shy and don’t want to breastfeed in public.

I do understand that if you are out for the day with your partner and decide to use a breastfeeding area then you may not want to leave your partner hanging around outside waiting.

I think if I were in that situation (and I’m not as I bottle feed and so am quite happy to feed in public) I would tell my partner to nip and get a coffee somewhere and I’d meet him after the feed but I think I’d feel bad taking him into a breastfeeding area.

I’d love to know what other people think? As I said I don’t breastfeed so I can’t talk for ladies who do, so I’d love to know what you do think :)