By 9News,April Glover

Copyright 9news

Exclusive: A Victorian mother has told how she was not allowed to breastfeed her baby and made to feel like an “inconvenience” during a first aid course.

Geelong mum-of-two and personal trainer Felicity Ryan needed 20 minutes to feed her son during a day-long CPR training course last year and asked the facilitators to accommodate her request.

Ryan explained to 9news.com.au she was told to breastfeed during a 10-minute break outside of the room instead because no children were allowed inside.

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Do you have a story? Contact reporter April Glover at april.glover@nine.com.au

“I was made to feel like a huge inconvenience for asking to breastfeed my six-month-old during breaks or in class,” Ryan said.

“The balancing act between professional responsibilities and motherhood is challenging enough without social pressures and stigma adding to the burden.”

When she was told by organisers she’d miss too much of the course if she fed her son outside for longer than 10 minutes, Ryan was asked to come back another time or split the course over two days.

”I’m extremely disappointed that you are making this so difficult for new mums who run businesses,” Ryan told the trainers via email.

In response, the course managers said they could not “guarantee there won’t be a disruption to the class”.

As a personal trainer, Ryan needed to attend the eight-hour class to fulfil her business requirements.

“It’s really upset me… I run a business, I am not just doing this to be away from my baby for fun,” she said.

“I don’t know why they made it such a drama.”

Ryan did not want to name the CPR course for this article.

She later found a shorter first aid course with organisers who said she could bring her baby and feed him if needed.

Ryan said Dr Elise Turner’s experience being booted out of a Virgin business airport lounge in Melbourne last week for expressing milk reminded her of how she was treated as a new mum.

“I instantly felt disgusted, furious, upset and disappointed that in 2025 breastfeeding and pumping mothers are still made to feel a sense of shame, guilt and embarrassment,” she said.

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Co-founder of breastfeeding brand Bubka Alicia Segal said she was “outraged” when she first heard about Ryan’s experience.

“As a breastfeeding mum in the trenches with a newborn, running her own business and trying to keep up with her first aid training, to be told she wouldn’t have a proper opportunity to breastfeed in the course made me mad,” Segal said.

“I encouraged her to speak up about it and heard that she decided to change to another first aid program.”

Segal said her company surveyed 200 Australian mums last month for its Breastfeeding & Pumping Report and found 65 per cent don’t feel confident breastfeeding in public.

“Babies don’t run to a schedule and nor should they so it’s important that society supports breastfeeding and pumping mums throughout the journey,” Segal added.

Segal said she also spoke to Turner after her experience at Virgin and personally thanked her for bringing attention to the often under-reported issue.

“She came face to face with adversity and she took the opportunity to stand up for what is right (and legal),” she said.

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Post-partum doula Ricki-Lee, director of The Doula Pod in Sydney, told 9news.com.au she was also surprised to read of Turner’s experience in the year 2025.

But she said it was sadly indicatative of how breastfeeding parents often feel when out in public.

“I’ve had clients who have been asked to move to a bathroom to feed their baby, which obviously is unhygienic and really disheartening,” she said.

“I’ve had others who’ve been stared at, comments that have been made under their breath while they’re out in public feeding, so they’re feeling really judged and exposed.

“I’ve got mums that are returning for work and they’ve been made to feel really uncomfortable pumping in their office, so they’ve had to go to their car to pump.

“Things like that make a woman feel embarrassed and ashamed.”

Ricki-Lee said she hoped breastfeeding mothers wouldn’t have lose their confidence to pump or feed in front of others.

“It’s those kind of moments that really chip away at mother’s confidence,” she said.

“And while [Turner] was incredibly brave and stood up for herself, some women who are tired, sleep-deprived and don’t feel that they can have that confrontation… they just go and do it in private.”

The mum said the dialogue “needs to change”, including in places that aren’t a business class lounge like cafes and shops.

Following Turner’s experience, a spokesperson for Virgin Australia told 9news.com.au the airline was “sorry for the way this situation was handled”.

“It fell short of the high standards of care and customer service our team strives to deliver,” the spokesperson said.

“We have reached out to our guest today to apologise directly.”

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