Guernsey mums protest against hotel's breastfeeding policy confusion

Monday 18 March 2024

More than a dozen women gathered at the Premier Inn hotel in Guernsey this morning to stand in solidarity with a mother who was asked not to breastfeed her child inside the restaurant over the weekend.

Kelly Corbin took to social media on Saturday reporting that she left the Admiral Park hotel in tears after a staff member asked her to breastfeed her child out of sight of the public.

She said the incident left her feeling humiliated and she questioned if she would ever breastfeed the child in public again.

A call out was then made for breastfeeding women "past, present and future" to gather at Admiral Park this morning [18 March] to "show support and make a stand".

The group assembled and walked across the road to the hotel to enter the same restaurant, many of them with young children.

Premier Inn has since apologised for the incident and said the request from a staff member went against its internal policies.

Pictured: The Premier Inn was one of the first developments completed as part of the recent Admiral Park regeneration.

"Breastfeeding mothers are wholeheartedly welcome in all our sites across the UK," a Premier Inn spokesperson said.

They added the company has reached out to Ms Corbin to make amends, saying the incident resulted from "confusion between one of our team members" and her.

"We're proud to be a family-friendly business and it's really important to us that all our guests including new mums and their babies have a relaxing, comfortable and enjoyable experience when they stay, enjoy a coffee or dine with us."

Pictured: The mums entering the hotel on Monday morning.

Ms Corbin didn't participate in the gathering as she was still too upset to return to the site.

The feeling among her supporters was this type of request is unacceptable in modern society and led to unnecessary hurt for a mother trying to feed her young child.

One woman told Express she had faced a similar confrontation three decades ago, which she said was out of order at that time and even more so today.

Others said breastfeeding doesn't equate to indecently exposing yourself and the activity is discreet.