Mom claims nurse banned breast feeding

EXETER, England, June 11 (UPI) -- A mother says a nurse at a doctor's office in Exeter, England, told her she could not breast-feed her baby in the waiting room because she was not a patient.

Terri-Ann Barnes, 23, said she ducked into the Heavitree Health Center with her 3-month-old baby, Christian, to escape a storm and asked a receptionist if she could breast feed her son in the empty waiting room, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

Barnes said the receptionist gave her the go-ahead, but a nurse soon emerged and told her she should not have been allowed to breast feed at the center.

"I was only in there for a few minutes but a nurse said I shouldn't use the waiting room because I wasn't a patient there," Barnes said. "The waiting room was empty so I assumed it would be fine. She said it wasn't a drop-in center. I was shocked. If you can't breast-feed in a doctor's surgery where can you?"

Len Young, manager of the practice, said the nurse was concerned about health and safety.