Breastfeeding mothers hold 'nurse-in' at Beverly Hills Anthropologie store

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- Nursing mothers staged a "nurse-in" at the Anthropologie clothing store in Beverly Hills Wednesday to protest after one mother was asked to nurse in the bathroom.

The angry moms walked in one by one with their babies. Some even walked in breastfeeding their children.

Ingrid Wiese-Hesson says she was told by a store manager Tuesday to nurse her baby in the store bathroom instead of in public.

"I don't know if it was imagined or felt or real, but I felt judged," Wiese-Hesson said. "As I walked out of the restroom and toward the door to leave, I was overcome with a feeling of shame, which is not something I'm accustomed to. I'm not someone who embarrasses easily."

Wiese-Hesson says she felt terribly uncomfortable trying to feed her 6-month-old son in the bathroom, which she says consisted of a single toilet and nowhere to sit.

"When I sat down in the car, I thought, 'Is this what it means to be a mom?'" said Wiese-Hesson. "There was just that moment. (It's) women's right to breastfeed wherever their baby cries, and they need to feed them."

California law says a mother can breastfeed in public. There are some exceptions when it comes to a private residence.

"It's great for people to see that a lot of us are doing this, and it's important to us, and I think it's really wrong that they escorted this woman to the bathroom to nurse her baby in there," said a protester.

Wiese-Hesson says while she has breastfed her son in other public places with no problem, it appears the store manager in Anthropologie was not aware of the law. She says the general manager of the store personally called her and apologized for the mishap.

Eyewitness News did reach out to Anthropologie for a comment but did not receive a response before this story aired.