Breastfeeding mother thrown off bus

A bus company apologised today after a "humiliated" young mother was told to get off a bus in the rain because she was breastfeeding. Amy Wootten, 25, was travelling home from Bristol city centre on the busy bus when her six-week-old daughter Emily needed a feed.

The driver pulled up the number 54 First Bristol bus and asked her to stop, saying that a passenger had complained. When Ms Wootten refused, he instructed her to step off the vehicle, despite the weather.

Ms Wootten, a learning support assistant, took an £8 taxi for the rest of her journey home to the Stockwood area of the city.


Photo from here.

The driver told her she was "indecently exposing" herself and a fellow passenger had objected, but Ms Wootten insists the feed was discreet.

First Bristol, which operates the bus, offered its "sincere apologies" for any distress caused and accepted it was sometimes necessary to feed onboard. The company has since sent flowers and a gift to Ms Wootten, who had to leave the bus at 4.30pm on Tuesday in Wells Road.

Ms Wootten, who does not drive, said she only plucked up the courage to feed Emily in public in the last fortnight.