London 2012 - Breastfeeding mums told to buy two tickets

Wed, 25 Jan 00:29:00 2012

London Olympic organisers have attempted to placate breastfeeding mums after facing a backlash from women who have been told they cannot bring babies into venues without buying a separate ticket.

2012 London Olympics Stadium - 0

Tickets for the Games which start in just over six months' time went on sale last March, before some of the purchasers discovered they were pregnant, and most events sold out immediately.

Many of the tickets returned on a re-sale website have also been at the top of the price range.

Mothers have expressed frustration and anger on the mumsnet.com website with the chatroom drawing 125 posts and ranking as the most active topic after complaints were first aired earlier this month.

"I'm shocked by the conversation I just had with the London 2012 ticketing people," reported littlepinklizard.

"Our baby is due 2 June, so was enquiring about what I need to do about tickets for the new baby. They said everyone needs a ticket - fine. Children's tickets are £1 - fine.

"But there are no children's tickets for the horse jumping so I have to pay £95 to have a 3 month old in a sling. I said I was planning to bf (breastfeed) and couldn't go without the baby.

"They said the only alternative was to re-sell my ticket or give it to someone else."

LOCOG confirmed the official policy was that everyone entering a venue had to have a ticket.

However, following the complaints and suggestions that the policy was in breach of sexual equality laws, they suggested they could review the situation.

"We want families and young people to come and enjoy the Games, which is why we created Pay Your Age tickets at a third of sessions," said a spokesperson.

"Of course we understand that some new mums may want to take their babies to events they have tickets to, and we will look at what we can do when the remaining tickets go on sale in April."

A million tickets, held back for contingency reasons while venues were tested and licensed, are due to go on sale in April along with returns.

LOCOG has already said it intends to get as many as possible into the hands of those who had failed to get any in previous ballots.

Reuters

Comment 128 - 147 of 147

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  1. AKA rip off Britain. Plus the games are way way over­ budget what do you expect? I would advise everone­ with tickets to send them back and tell them to shove­ them.

    From Biker B, on Tue 6 Mar 17:32

  2. just a thought if the mother is pregnant and gives­ birth at the event does that baby need a ticket ? do­ the paramedics attending need a ticket to treat the­ paitent ?

    From A, on Sat 28 Jan 3:26

  3. Just leave the baby at home.

    From DKR156, on Thu 26 Jan 12:24

  4. i have a 2year old little boy and personally i­ wouldn't want to take my little boy to a event so­ busy but as a mother everyone deserves to be able to­ choose what events to take there child to and for them­ to charge a women to take a baby in is outrageous and­ as for the people saying that they shouldn't be­ allowed to bring a baby because it would disturb there­ fun well if your worried about people disturbing you­ then your better off at home watching it

    From Grant and sophie, on Thu 26 Jan 12:10

  5. Ahh look at all the illuminati symbols in the picture..­ wouldnt catch me anywhere near the place.

    From Yapoo!, on Thu 26 Jan 11:55

  6. GOOD!!! Why should the person next to you have to put­ up with a screaming baby when they have paid a small­ fortune for tickets?? You chose to have it, stop making­ others suffer!

    From Conor, on Thu 26 Jan 10:57

  7. I think that katie something woman on tv this morning­ should be arrested for inciting hatred as that is­ exactly what she did on national television. She was­ openly calling for the discrimination and breach of­ human rights of women and children making this age and­ sex discrimination!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Sylvia H, on Thu 26 Jan 10:55

  8. anyone under 16 should get in to the games for free,­ talk about making an amature sport into a money­ spinner,,shame on you seb coe and what would u expect­ any less of a tory goverment... in it together my ar se

    From sado room, on Thu 26 Jan 10:22

  9. For gods sake, haven't these women heard of breast­ pumps??? This is not discrimination because no one is­ telling them that they have to take their babies with­ them. The olympics is not the right place to take a­ baby anyway. They should think of the crowds for a­ start, and the routine of their child. It will be­ noisy so no doubt they'll complain that they­ can't get their baby to sleep when needed, and when­ the child needs feeding, changing etc and starts­ crying, why should other ticket paying people have to­ endure that? Think of others - they've paid top­ prices for these tickets as well and won't want to­ have to put up with screaming babies. There are­ certain places as a parent that you just don't take­ your kids - get real and stop moaning!!!!!!

    From Maria P, on Thu 26 Jan 9:36

  10. Olympics 2012 as never been about the sport, its been­ about how much money can the architects, builders, and­ advertisers fleece the taxpayer/lottery out of. Its­ about Visa making sure you can not buy anything without­ using their cards its about mcdonalds having the lions­ share of the food outlets, its about ripping joe public­ off, oh! and there babies.

    From David, on Thu 26 Jan 9:25

  11. here we go again we pay to build these sites from our­ tax and now a baby has to pay next thing you know­ babies will have to pay to play in parks stupid london­ rethink you idiots in manchester 2002 children under 5­ never paid to get in venues

    From Sean, on Thu 26 Jan 9:02

  12. this maybe harsh but any good mother would not even­ think to take there child to this event i am a mother­ to a 5year old and it would not cross my mind to take­ or buy him a ticket even if he asked to go reason being­ to many people he could get lost he could get board and­ become a pain and it would p**s people off cus i know i­ would be! lets face it some thing you HAVE to give up­ when becoming a mum or dad like someone said use a­ breast pump for god sake and dont put your child in­ that environment!!!!!

    From Natashia, on Thu 26 Jan 8:37

  13. When my second son was tiny, we were invited to my­ sister-in-law's wedding. Being Christian is good­ practice as to how children are INCLUSIVE in all­ aspects of society, not exclusive. I remember­ especially buying bottles and breast pump for the­ occasion, but he wouldn't have it. There was always­ somewhere to go to feed him, and he was mostly well­ behaved, enjoying attention from family, so didn't­ make a lot of fuss at all. In other countries babies­ are taken everywhere with mothers, it's this­ country that has a strange problem with paedophobes.­ Instead of moaning if a child is getting agitated, why­ not smile and pull a funny face and entertain the­ child? Or maybe your scowling face is too scary for­ small children to look at!!! Personally, if I was­ breastfeeding a newborn, I wouldn't have mentioned­ it, just turned up at the Olympics with baby disguised­ as a pregnant bump. Is there no areas where parents can­ sit together with other parents and kids, and­ paedophobes can go the other end?? Maybe there's a­ cure for paedophobia??? FYI in the 1980s, Geoff Capes­ came to our school to plant a tree. He was quite­ grumpy.

    From Boffin, on Thu 26 Jan 8:28

  14. oh for pete's sake babies shouldnt b there anyway.­ and its hardly sexual inequality! what a load of­ nonsense

    From karen f, on Thu 26 Jan 8:14

  15. It's up to the families but I can't imagine why­ anyone would want to have an infant with them in the­ midst of what will most likely be a frighteningly large­ crowd. It's a matter of common sense more than­ anything.

    From Catherine, on Thu 26 Jan 7:51

  16. I can't help think some people are confusing babies­ with toddlers. If a baby is young enough to be breast­ fed then it should be with it's mother &­ it's up to her to decide what is best for both­ her & her baby! If she has a ticket for the games­ she should be allowed to take her young baby with her­ without charge, however, one would expect that she­ would 'retire' to a rest room in the the­ unlickly circumstances the child became restless enough­ to disturb other spectators & spoil their­ enjoyment. Toddlers & young children are a­ completely different matter as the majority of them­ have a relatively short attention span. If the child­ will sit through a film at the cinema or through a full­ length pantomime then it should be perfectly ok to take­ them otherwise leave them with granny! Breastfeeding­ should be encouraged by all it's the most natural­ thing in the world, what nature provides has to be the­ healthy option!

    From HEB, on Thu 26 Jan 7:47
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    shame on them,
    if a baby is less than 1 then they are­ 0, therefore free tickets for babies

    From dazzii, on Thu 26 Jan 7:44

  18. I remember when Manchester held the Commonwealth games­ and they were a hell of a lot better managed and­ organised than this Olympic disaster! Just goes to­ show, that London has become the home of the rip off­ merchants...not only in politics, but also in sporting­ events!

    From Nikki, on Thu 26 Jan 7:17

  19. Nice . . . thanks our Govt for that.

    From natalie999, on Thu 26 Jan 7:08

  20. does not suprise me i had to sell take that tickets as­ was on crutches due to pregnancy( was not pregnant and­ ok when got tickets) as villa park would not let me on­ pitch on crutches ...jokers

    From louise, on Thu 26 Jan 6:59
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