A mother-of-two has described her fury after being denied a seat on a packed commuter train while breastfeeding her son.

Kate Hitchens was forced to stand for half an hour as she travelled home from Stratford to Wickford on Tuesday after a work event.

The 32-year-old, from Essex, said she felt 'uncomfortable and embarrassed' breastfeeding six-month-old Charlie while standing up on the busy carriage and claims fellow commuters noticed but did not offer her a seat.

She told MailOnline: 'I'd actually spent the afternoon in London after the event and had used the tube, everyone until this point had been really friendly and helpful on the underground, helping with my buggy up stairs and offering their seats.

Mother-of-two Kate Hitchens, from Essex, posted this snap to Instagram after she was forced to stand for half an hour as she travelled home from Stratford to Wickford on Tuesday with following a work event (pictured with baby Charlie); her post has racked up over 500 likes

'I actually declined one teenage boy's offer of his seat as Charlie was happy in his buggy and I didn't feel I needed it more than he did at the time.'

But to her dismay, when she boarded her commuter train back to Wickford and the youngster began crying out for a feed, there was no offers of somewhere to sit.

Frustrated, the blogger snapped a selfie during her train ride and penned an Instagram post about her ordeal which quickly racked up almost 600 likes in a matter of hours.

Kate, who is also mother to three-year-old Oliver, wrote: 'On my way home from London on a packed commuter train and this is what I faced.

'What has the world come to that a mother has to stand up on a moving train breastfeeding a wriggling and writhing six-month-old, 20 lb baby?!

Kate Hitchens with baby Charlie, who she was carrying as she travelled from London to Wickford this week. Also a mother to three-year-old OIiver, she blogs about family recipes

'The point here isn't just that I found it difficult because I was nursing (although that was b****y difficult!), but that not one person offered a mother carrying a small child a seat for around half an hour, or three stops!'

Admitting that she felt too 'silly' to ask to sit down, Kate claims that some of her fellow passengers saw she was struggling because they 'made eye contact and smiled'.

She added: 'I cannot get my head around not offering a parent with a child a seat.

'Next time you see someone with a child on a train - if you're able bodied and fit and healthy please offer your seat to them.'

Kate told MailOnline: 'I felt uncomfortable and embarrassed breastfeeding standing up on the busy train. Although I'm happy to feed anywhere he needs it, I do still try and be discreet and not show my breasts, wearing clothing designed for nursing.

Kate (pictured in a recent snap with her son Charlie) snapped a selfie during her breastfeeding train ride this week and penned an Instagram post about her ordeal which has since racked up almost 600 likes in a matter of hours

Mother-of-two Kate with six-month old Charlie and Oliver, three months. The blogger was left upset and uncomfortable after commuters forced her to stand on a train for half an hour

'Because I was having to stand up and hold [Charlie's] 20 lb weight, I was uncomfortable physically as well as personally.

'As the train moved he pulled and it hurt. I also felt uncomfortable myself as I accidentally exposed more of myself to the people standing around me than I usually would sitting down, trying to hold him wriggling in one arm whilst sorting myself out with the other hand was difficult.

'Usually I balance him on my knee so I have both hands free and can do my top up discreetly.'

Kate writes a blog, hitchenskitchen.co.uk, chronicling the ups and downs of weaning her baby as well as healthy family recipes.