The Booby Prize
Food giant gets the 2006 Booby Prize!
The first ever UK-wide Booby Prize (sponsored by UNISON) goes to McDonald's for being the least friendly place in Britain to breastfeed.
Mums nominated McDonald's to receive the Booby Prize after many were told by its staff to stop breastfeeding or to use a toilet cubicle when feeding their baby in the restaurants.
The award for outstanding services for breastfeeding mums goes to Scandinavian furniture store Ikea. Nominating mums praised their breastfeeding-friendly café designs and the warm welcome they received from staff when feeding.
What is the Booby Prize?
The 'Booby Prize' is our humorous approach to "name and shame" organisations that have asked women to stop breastfeeding or made them feel uncomfortable when doing so.
Over the summer, we asked you to tell us your experience of breastfeeding when you were out and about with your baby, like shopping or in a restaurant or café. We've now collected nominations for your best and worst places. Full results will be published here soon.
Those that have been most supportive of breastfeeding will receive a thank you on this website and in our members’ magazine which goes out to 68,000 parents and health professionals in the UK. The offending organisations will get our "Booby Prize".Get Involved and Campaign for Change
The National Childbirth Trust's 2006 Booby Prize awards are a humorous way to raise the profile of an important campaign to help mothers feel confident and supported when breastfeeding in public.
Women in England, Wales and Northern Ireland can still be asked to stop breastfeeding when in public or to breastfeed out of sight, even in the toilets, which is not acceptable. In Scotland it is an offence to stop mothers from feeding their babies in public places. We think the rest of the UK should follow Scotland's example and introduce similar legislation to stop discrimination against mothers who choose to breastfeed their babies.
To help the campaign, write to your MP asking them to support the MP David Kidney's Private Members' Bill in parliament which proposes to make it an offence for anyone to stop a woman and baby breastfeeding in public. It is due to be debated again on 20 October 2006. Also, sign up for MP Annette Brooke's Early Day Motion 1046, which calls for legislation to protect breastfeeding mothers’ rights to feed their babies in public areas.
Further Information
To find out more about breastfeeding, please visit the NCT's breastfeeding awareness website, which has important facts and figures, and explains how you can support breastfeeding.
The NCT also runs a Breastfeeding Line (0870 444 8708), which offers new mothers information and support during the early days of parenthood. We rely on donations to keep the Breastfeeding Line running, so please support the NCT and donate today. A small donation of £10 can pay for over an hour of counselling for mums through the NCT Breastfeeding Line.
You can support the NCT by becoming a member. To find out more about the National Childbirth Trust, please visit www.nct.org.uk.