Fury at 'depraved' child poster

Offensive? The little girl is shown to be breastfeeding a doll

A poster which shows a toddler breastfeeding her doll has caused outrage at Rochdale Infirmary.

The poster shows a little girl with the toy to her chest, with a slogan reading “It’s normal, children copy their mothers.”

A mother and patient at the hospital to did not want to be named, says picture is “depraved” and fears it could be seen by “the wrong people."

Councillor Jean Ashworth, who is a healthcare assistant at Rochdale Infirmary, says she is offended by the image.

She said: “Promoting breastfeeding is fine, but this is just offensive.

“I wonder where it will stop, if these are the lengths the Trust will go to. I am in no way against mums who want to breast feed at all, but I think to see such a disturbing image of a child like that is inappropriate and unnecessary."

Pennine Acute Trust has no far received no complaints about the poster.

Val Finigan MBE, infant feeding co-ordinator for Pennine Acute Trust, said: “The poster was displayed to help promote National Breastfeeding Awareness Week between Monday 11 May to Friday 15 May.

“We have recently launched a competition for children to paint, draw or colour any animal that they think breastfeeds.

“This poster and the competition is part of a larger campaign to raise awareness amongst children because many of them may have no knowledge of breastfeeding.

“There are a lot of myths still out there about breastfeeding and women still come into the hospital with misunderstandings about feeding.

“Culturally we are a bottle-feeding nation and we will always try to get the information across in a balanced way."