McDonald's apologises after group of mothers staged sit-in over breast-feeding ban

'We began breastfeeding our babies all at the same time to make a point. We caused a bit of a stir among customers but none of the staff looked our way.

'Someone told a manager what we were doing but he just muttered that he couldn't comment.'

The incident happened at the McDonald's branch inside an Asda supermarket in the resort.

Miss Reynolds was feeding ten-week-old Sophie when the staff member intervened.

'I had a proper maternity top on which is designed for breastfeeding so no one could see anything,' she said.

'I was angry when the man told me to leave but knew I wasn't doing anything wrong so I carried on. But he just stood there and watched me for a few minutes.

'I felt so humiliated but put my head down and didn't stop and eventually he walked off. I felt so cross and upset.'

Miss Reynolds lives with partner Karl Brackenborough, 29, who works as a television fitter and repairer.

She added: 'I choose to breastfeed Sophie because I know it's healthy and the best thing for her.

'I remember reading about a similar incident a while back where a woman was thrown out of a coffee shop for breastfeeding.

'She was so upset by it that she started using bottles instead. I wasn't prepared to let something like that happen to anyone else again.'

FOR BABY

• Mother's milk is tailor-made for your baby. In fact, it actually matches 50% of your baby's genetic material.

• It's composition changes with your baby's age, within a feeding, a day, etc.

• Mother's milk is easier to digest and almost completely assimilated by the baby. This is why breastfed babies feed more frequently than formula-fed babies. Breastfed babies also make liquid stools that contain almost no solid matter (and do not smell offensive).

• To date, we have identified over 200 components in breastmilk, and each plays a role not only in the baby's nutrition, but also in general development and growth as well as the development of the immune and nervous systems.

FOR MOTHER

• Breastfeeding is easy, even if it sometimes requires an initial period of learning and adapting for mother and baby.

• No preparation, sterilisation, etc. of bottles and formula (often while baby cries…)

• Breastfeeding saves time and money. Artificial baby milks and supplies are costly : 2000$ to 3000$ per year, per child in Canada, not counting medical costs and lost wages stemming from the higher illness rates associated with formula feeding.

• Breastfeeding protects the mother from pre-menopausal breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers, as well as osteoporosis. This protection increases with breastfeeding duration.