- Alexandra Merrett was at the MCG for Anzac Day clash
- Husband Zach captains the Essendon Bombers
Alexandra Merrett, wife of Essendon Bombers captain Zach Merrett, has taken aim at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after being unable to find a breastfeeding room during the Anzac Day game.
Merrett used a social media post to reveal that she was forced to use a toilet cubicle to pump breast milk after looking for an appropriate room for 20 minutes.
‘A petition for the MCG to have a breastfeeding room,’ she captioned a TikTok video showing the incident.
Comments on the post quickly informed the new mum that there are breastfeeding rooms at the venue.
One user responded: ‘There are 4 parent rooms on level 1 which have feeding/breastfeeding cubicles, change tables, microwaves and tv’s to keep watching the game and more.’
Merrett replied that it ‘would have been good to know’, and later added that she searched for a room but couldn’t find one.
Alexandra Merrett (pictured with her husband, Essendon Bombers captain Zach Merrett) has taken aim at the MCG after being unable to find a breastfeeding room
Merrett revealed she was forced to use a toilet cubicle to pump after looking for an appropriate room for 20 minutes as her husband played Collingwood on Anzac Day (pictured)
Hester Brown, wife of AFL star Ben Brown, has experience breastfeeding at footy stadiums.
She breastfed both her sons in parenting rooms while her husband was playing for Melbourne and North Melbourne
However, she sympathised with Merrett and said her friends had also been in similar situations.
‘I’ve also asked for help and often — and it’s not the MCG staff’s problem — but they often don’t know where it is, or it’ll be on the other side of the members, a million miles away,’ Brown told the ABC.
‘If they left their kid at home, or if it’s a night game, you still have to pump if you’re feeding that way.
‘So often, that’s just you standing in a cubicle or sitting on the loo by yourself with the machine whirring in the background having not a nice or relaxed experience.
‘And all those things can add stress because it’s [already] very hard and stressful being a parent and there’s lots of emotion involved in breastfeeding, lots of pain. It can be very difficult.’
Most Australian stadiums do have rooms that include privacy areas and baby-changing facilities.
Merrett’s followers informed her that the MCG does have parenting rooms – but she replied that they were far too hard to find
Merrett (pictured with husband Zach) says it ‘would have been good to know’ where the parenting rooms were at the MCG
Lucinda McKimm, host of podcast Ready or Not, said the worry of finding a safe place to pump or breastfeed could make mums think twice about going to the footy.
‘It’s excellent that there are parenting rooms available for mums wanting to enjoy the footy,’ said McKimm.
‘But if it’s not easy enough for an AFL player’s wife to find, more work needs to be done to ensure that all mums, including those with disabilities or for whom English might be their second language, can access these rooms that keep women and mums participating in society and feeling safe while doing so.’
