Ashley Rogers, 30, from Melbourne, was breastfeeding her son at a local cafe when a man nearby called her 'disgusting' and told her 'put away your t**s'. Photo / Facebook
Not realising his comments were directed at her, Ms. Rogers turned around to see what all the fuss was about.
"As I met with his eyes, he looked at me straight and said, 'You're disgusting, cover-up, I can see your t**s'," she said.
The shocked and equally as furious mother-of-three turned to the man and said, "Excuse me? I told him, 'I am feeding my goddamn son', but he just kept repeating what he said, telling me how 'disgusting' I am."
The young mum was shocked by the man's comments and at first didn't realise they were directed at her. Photo / Facebook
Ms. Rogers said the man really had to pay attention to see she was breastfeeding, as she was tucked behind a wall wearing a big puffer jacket, with her daughter sitting directly opposite her, obscuring the public's vision.
"It was horrible, I am not going to lie. People were just staring in shock too," Ms. Rogers said.
"By that stage, these three beautiful women flocked to me and put their arms around me and kissed me on the forehead.
"The moment they asked if I was OK, I just burst into tears."
At four-and-a-half months, baby Archie has failed to thrive, which means he struggles to put on weight. Photo / Supplied
For Ms Rogers, the topic of breastfeeding is sensitive.
She said while the man's tirade was upsetting, what was worse was her son has been struggling to gain weight and at four months is no bigger than a newborn.
Baby Archie was hospitalised for failing to thrive, and Ms Rogers needs to feed him on demand.
"It's been pretty tough," Ms Rogers bravely explained. "When I was pregnant I was diagnosed with a liver disorder called Intrahepatic cholestasis (it affects the normal flow of bile).
"(Archie) had to be induced at 37 weeks as anything beyond that has a high risk of stillbirths when you have the condition."
Baby Archie was non-responsive when he was born and was in special care nursery for 2.5 hours.
"The second he was put on my chest he began to thrive, which was just beautiful, so having the first feed was so perfect, obviously because it was so delayed."
However, at eight weeks, Archie was in hospital after he was diagnosed with a severe tongue tie.
"He couldn't even feed from a bottle so he has had it tough," Ms Rogers said.
Baby Archie had the band of tissue (muscle under his tongue) lasered off.
"I wanted to give up (breastfeeding) so many times but I didn't and now it's been six weeks and he feeds perfectly," Ms Rogers said.
"He is the size of a newborn still but he is growing and meeting all his milestones."
Ms Rogers has now started a Facebook and Instagram page called 'The Milk Mum' to provide support to other mothers who have faced criticism when feeding in public. Photo / Supplied
Ms Rogers said you never really know what people are going through and to the man that hurled abuse at her — "I would ask him if he could educate himself on breastfeeding and take a second to think about all the mums breastfeeding in public and know they're doing something wonderful."
"You shouldn't be judging anyone because you don't know people's stories and it's just unnecessary."
The experience has led Ms Rogers to start a blog called The Milk Mum to provide support to other mothers who have faced criticism when feeding in public.
"My hope is to empower women who currently feed, or are going to feed, to do it with confidence and not be ashamed," she said.
