Sarah and Tua Fa'avale, with their three month old baby Tahani.

A Wellington dad has been left feeling "really disheartened" after being told to leave the parents' room at Queensgate Mall on Thursday afternoon.

Tua Fa'avale, who was trying to change his three month old's nappy, was told he had no right to be in the room by another parent, because there were women feeding in the private cubicles.

"It was my first time using a parents' room and I was just trying to help out by changing my daughter's nappy while my wife was busy ordering our baby a new car seat," Tua said of the situation.

"I am just a dad trying to help out with my kid, and when this woman told me I couldn't go in there because there were mums in there, I just looked at my daughter and felt quite gutted that I couldn't help her."

READ MORE:

*Australian father labelled 'sicko' for changing son's nappy in parents' room

*Family man Jamie Oliver admits to being a "weekend parent"

*'It felt like she was ripped out of me'

*Even 'supermums' like Serena Williams suffer from the guilt of motherhood

His wife Sarah said she knew something was up when Tua returned looking as if the life had drained from his face.

"He came back and his face had fully dropped. Because he was back super fast I was like, okay, he obviously hasn't had a chance to change her nappy."

"I was absolutely gobsmacked. We pretty much ran back there because I wanted to have a chat to the lady and say that it's a "parents'" room, but unfortunately she'd gone so I didn't get a chance to speak to her."

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF Sarah was "gobsmacked" something like this would happen in a time where the Prime Minister's partner is taking on the role of stay-at-home parent.

After liaising with the family, Queensgate Mall said it's in the process of making it "absolutely clear" that fathers are welcome in the parents' room.

"All parents' rooms at Queensgate Shopping Centre are inclusive. We welcome anyone shopping with little ones to use these facilities at their leisure while shopping with us – mums, dads, caregivers, family and friends."

Sarah was also told any other parents who find themselves in a similar situation should report it to mall management right away.

Plunket's national advisor Dr Paul Watson told Stuff that it's important for dads to be present in all parts of their children's lives, including being able to use parents' rooms to care for them.

NICHOLAS BOYACK/STUFF Wellington's Queensgate mall, where the incident took place.

"Fathers play an important role in the lives of their children, and having an involvement in their care has been shown to have a lifelong positive effect on their children."

The organisation added that according to the Growing up in NZ study conducted by University of Auckland, "84 per cent of dads help their child with personal care," with most fathers indicating that they're "more involved in their child's life than their own fathers were."