THE plea from, a mum for better facilities for feeding babies at a borough community hub and library has been answered by Thurrock Council.

The mum took to social media to complain how she had been treated at South Ockendon, where – because of Covid-19 -she was not allowed to feed her twin babies. Instead she had to exit the building and feed them outside in the rain.

She was told it was not allowed. Normally she would breast feed the children but had formula milk with her as she recognised there might be a problem with breast feeding. However, she was not allowed to bottle feed either.

Thurrock Nub News asked the council what its policy is and received the following message from Cllr Deb Huelin, portfolio holder for communities.

She says: "We understand that many parents are having to face new barriers when feeding their young babies due to the current pandemic. Working practices also continue to follow government guidelines, including social distancing, to ensure that the public and staff remain safe.

"We are taking extra precautions with our pregnant residents, young families and elderly residents during this time, and we will always look for ways that we can support them while keeping them safe and following government guidelines.

"We are looking into the practicality of being able to support parents, who are both bottle feeding and breastfeeding young babies, moving forward in our buildings during the pandemic, and are working on updating our risk assessment, which will include feeding babies. This will offer staff a general guide to how they can operate using current and previous ways of working.

"We would like to hear from this resident directly to discuss their concerns via email at [email protected]."

A council statement said: "Thurrock Council has not been contacted directly about this incident. The council will always seek to work with our residents to resolve any issues and find the best solution for everyone. We encourage residents to report any issues or complaints about our service directly to us here."