Breastfeeding discrimination

[MsBeau]

Hi all

I’m really struggling with a complaint and legal claim that I have made against the AMHP who was sent to assess me at A&E.

After I had been waiting for hours and hours, the AMHP refused to engage with me because I was breastfeeding when he arrived and had said (since) that he had sought to protect my privacy. Now, if he had simply waited outside then I wouldn’t have had such a problem but he didn’t. He walked back down the corridor and bumped into my parents (who I had sent away as they were making me feel worse and I had suspicions about my Dad, from an abuse perspective, which I had reported in the triage appointment). The AMHP spoke to my parents at length and took a lot of biased and misleading information about me, which is all over my sectioning papers.

When the doctors then arrived they too spoke to my parents in the corridor!

This caused me to become understandably angry and I was then sectioned on account of my ‘labile mood, agitation, hostility and grandiosity’. But I had not been presenting with the symptoms, I felt elated, manic and scared. It was definitely the case that because I was there for a mental health assessment that anything that I did was attributed to my mental illness.. I felt powerless and completely unheard.

Being sectioned was incredibly traumatising. I had taken myself to the GP and then to A&E so clearly had insight. I did have insight as I can remember everything and still feel so angry about what happened.

Would anyone else have felt discriminated against if they had been ignored by the AMHP in account of you breastfeeding? Feeling pretty alone with this as so far my claim and complaint have got nowhere with the council! No idea how to prove that it was discrimination. I know it was though as the law states that if you are treated differently on account of a protected characteristic and were treated less favourably than if you hadn’t been breastfeeding, then it is discrimination.

Thanks x

[Jenny_at_APP Partner]

Hello MsBeau,

I’m sorry you’re feeling so angry. It must be so difficult to feel you were so powerless and unheard when you were trying to get help.

It’s so difficult – there must be such a balance for healthcare professionals to try and hit when making their assessments. They won’t always get things right and I’m sorry you’ve been left feeling this way, I do hope there will be learning where needed.

I don’t think I’d be able to look back with a clear view of how people interacted with me when I was unwell – I read into every gesture and facial expression but also saw things that weren’t there, members of staff that were mothers nodding and winking to me when others weren’t looking, reassuring me that they’d all been where I was now – it was something all new mums went through… I remember staff peeking through the door and laughing at me later on that night, but I couldn’t tell you if that actually happened or not.

I’m sorry you’ve been left with so many questions and hope you are able to process events in a way that brings you some peace.

Sending you very warm wishes,

Jenny x