New mum was kicked off a bus for breastfeeding her baby girl

It has been reported that a mum-of-two from Wiltshire in the UK was kicked off a bus, for breastfeeding her 19-week-old baby girl.

28-year-old Holly Chapman claims that a bus driver told her to either stop breastfeeding or get off the bus, forcing Holly to feed her daughter on the side of the road.

“My daughter Raiya was crying when we got on the bus so I started to feed her,” Holly recalled. “The driver told me I couldn't do it. I explained she was crying because she was hungry and he said if I was going to carry on then I needed to get off the bus.”

“It was such a horrible experience. I was so shocked and didn't know what to say,” the young mum explained, before going on to add, “I have had strangers say it’s disgusting before but I’ve never been thrown off a bus.”

Reluctant to tell anyone about her distressing experience, Holly kept the whole ordeal to herself for a few days, before confiding in her sister, who encouraged Holly to make a formal complaint.

Holly, who is a maternity assistant, went on to confess that she felt “upset with myself that I didn't stand up for myself, but I felt so choked up and humiliated in front of everyone on the bus. I have breastfed both my children, and I'm still breastfeeding my eldest child, Gracie, three. I tried to brush what happened off, but it impacted me a lot more than I thought.”

Swindon’s Bus Company have since apologised to Holly, as the general manager Alex Chutter said in a statement, “I am very sorry to learn of this customer's experience. Our drivers are highly trained in customer service, and I would like to reassure those who travel with us that incidents like this are extremely rare and completely unacceptable.”

“We would never condone this type of behaviour from any of our drivers, I would like to sincerely apologise to Ms Chapman for the experience she has endured,” the statement concluded.

Holly encourages other feeding mums to speak up "if you are ever confronted and know that you are doing nothing wrong…Breastfeeding in public is ok and you are protected by law to feed your baby whenever they need to be fed."