Women come to the defense of a nursing mom at Chick-fil-A

AUGUSTA, GA. » Moms have come to the defense of a mother who says she was asked to cover up while breastfeeding inside a Chick-fil-A in Georgia.

Mothers held a “nurse-in” this week at the fast food restaurant near Augusta, The Augusta Chronicle reported.

Samantha McIntosh says she was breastfeeding her 7-month-old daughter in a booth with her 9-yearold niece at the restaurant Monday when a manager approached. McIntosh says the manager told her they’d had a complaint and asked her to cover herself.

“And now with half the restaurant watching this scene unfold, including my young niece, I have a decision to make, McIntosh posted on Facebook. “So I quickly unlatch and tell the manager I will finish feeding her later ... but as I sit there in this family friendly restaurant I start to simmer. I’ll admit it. I got angry.”

McIntosh’s Facebook post had been shared more than 1,400 times by Friday.

A spokesperson for the Georgiabased company said in an email that the operator of the franchise has apologized to McIntosh.

“I am truly sorry for the experience Ms. McIntosh had in our restaurant,” Jason Adams, owner-operator of Chick-fil-A Mullins Crossing, said in a statement provided Friday to The Associated Press.

“I have reached out to her to personally apologize. My goal is to provide a warm and welcoming environment for all of our guests,” Adams said.

Jessica Gaugush, who helped to organize the “nurse-in,” which was held Tuesday, said that whoever complained about the issue in the first place is “part of the problem.”

“We need to normalize breastfeeding and make sure that people are as comfortable as possible with moms feeding their kids however they decide,” Gaugush told the newspaper.