Luciana Berger: Lib Dem councillor remarks on my attendance after baby ‘a disgrace’ Luciana Berger has branded a Liberal Democrat councillor’s comments about her attendance at election campaign events after only recently giving […]

Luciana Berger has branded a Liberal Democrat councillor’s comments about her attendance at election campaign events after only recently giving birth an “absolute disgrace”.

On Tuesday, Liverpool Lib Dem Deputy Leader Andrew Makinson accused Ms Berger and Daniel Carden, the Labour candidate for Liverpool Walton, of refusing to attend election debates.

“As timid as Theresa May,” he wrote on Twitter.

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Ms Berger gave birth to a daughter, Amélie Moselle, in March and went on maternity leave. The Labour and Co-operative candidate was elected as MP for Liverpool Walton in 2010 and again in 2015.

When the snap election was called in April, she suddenly found herself returning to some aspects of her work just weeks after giving birth. Ms Berger lives in the constituency and has been canvassing there, often taking her daughter with her.

Mr Makinson claimed organisers “would have been delighted” if she had brought her baby to a hustings in Liverpool when it was explained to him that she was looking after her daughter.

“Labour just didn’t want to debate.”

Comments which belong in the 19th century

When Ms Berger told Mr Makinson she had not refused to take part in debates and explained she was breastfeeding, he accused her of “faux outrage”.

Ms Berger told i his remarks suggest a complete lack of understanding of the challenges new parents face.

“It’s comments which you would expect from the nineteenth century, and particularly [not] from such a senior representative of the Liberal Democrats.”

This just adds to the pressure on new mums

Ms Berger said her constituents are well aware she has had a baby and is trying to balance having a newborn child with being a candidate and canvassing as much as possible.

“I’ve done my best but it has been very, very tough,” she said. “This just adds to the pressure people put on new mums at a time when they need all the support they can get.”

She called his comments an attempt at scoring “cheap political points” to the detriment of new mothers everywhere.

How old do her kids have to be before this is an acceptable response? pic.twitter.com/Mt4itFlUg2 — Just Darren Dodd (@darren_dodd) June 7, 2017

Liberal Democrat councillor Kirsty Lord suggested that Mr Makinson should apologise for his tweets. Mr Makinson said he hadn’t realised quite how young her baby was. “Luciana had said ‘evenings’ were the issue, she hadn’t mentioned breastfeeding,” he added.

But this did little to quell the anger over his comments and on Wednesday, Mr Mackinson wrote: “I strongly believe in every parent’s right to decide how best to care for their baby and I apologise for unintentionally suggesting otherwise.”

However, he then suggested Labour could have sent a representative if Ms Berger “felt unable to attend”.

“It adds pressure to all new mums everywhere – not just in politics,” Ms Berger added. “It’s no surprise that we don’t have that many parents with younger children in Parliament because it’s so hard anyway.”

We need more information about breastfeeding

Ms Berger said she has been struck by how many people have no understanding of the challenges breastfeeding can present. Culturally, the UK still has a long way to go when it comes to breastfeeding, according to the Labour candidate.

“I’ve got a friend from Japan who lives here in Liverpool and she said she couldn’t believe how there is still such cultural barriers around breastfeeding.

“We’ve got a massive job in this country for people to be aware of the benefits of breastfeeding, both to mum and baby, and for people around new mums to support them and understand it’s tough.”

Ms Berger’s daughter had tongue-tie, which was not discovered until she was six weeks old. Tongue tie is a congenital condition affecting between three and 10 per cent of newborns which makes it difficult for the baby to latch onto the breast.

The waiting time for women struggling to breastfeed their babies is another issue she wants to see addressed. “I was told we had to wait three months to get an appointment. I had to fight to get an appointment.”

Ms Berger said it is “ridiculous” women are having to wait this long.

“If we are trying to encourage women and support them through breastfeeding, why are we waiting 12 weeks to give them an appointment to contend with tongue ties?”