A North Belfast mum has said that she felt "shamed and humiliated" by a doctor because of not breastfeeding her son while she was trying to get him urgent treatment.
Seimone Burgoyne says that she was left appalled by the incident while she was trying to get urgent treatment for her son Rossa who was admitted to hospital with a blockage in his bowel.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Seimone raised a number of concerns with regards to her son's care and after three "traumatising" weeks in hospital, she was still searching for answers as to what was wrong with him.
Read more: North Belfast boy 'in constant agony' awaiting treatment for blocked bowel
She claims that when speaking with doctors about how her son was going to be treated for his bowel problem, which is causing him to constantly cry out in pain, one doctor entered the room and began asking questions that she felt were not appropriate.
Seimone said: "After Rossa had been admitted we had been speaking with a number of doctors and nurses about what needed to be done to help him.
"At one point, a doctor entered the room and immediately started to ask me questions about whether or not I had breast fed Rossa, and when I told him that I hadn't, he started to say that was the reason that he was now suffering with this painful bowel problem.
"I was appalled by the way I was spoken to and it felt like I was being shamed and humiliated for how I raised my children when I have done nothing wrong.
"Since Rossa was born he has had a restrictive diet that I have taken strict care with, but this seemed to be ignored and I was instead being criticised about whether or not I breast fed my children.
"I was very upset about the entire incident and had to request that this doctor never come near our family again."
Following this, Rossa spent weeks in hospital "screaming in pain" due to his blocked bowel with his mum believing that doctors should have done more to treat her son, who was eventually sent home following two operations.
However, days after he would return to the hospital with further issues with his bowel.
Seimone said: "The entire time we were in hospital with Rossa he was in extreme pain.
"We must have seen about 15 doctors who were all telling us different things and there seemed to be no joined up thinking at all about a treatment plan.
"We were constantly being told that treatment could be difficult over weekends and bank holidays and I felt like we were constantly being put off.
"The entire time Rossa's condition was continuing to deteriorate and he was on such strong drugs that he lost a kilo due to dehydration because he had stopped eating or drinking at this point.
"Near the end of his time there we were told to attend a multi-disciplinary meeting about his care, but when we arrived we were told that it had already finished and were given no indication about what was going on.
"I eventually was told that he had a foreign body in his bowel which was causing the blockage and he was taken for an operation to deal with it, but this didn't work. He then had another procedure which seemed to clear the problem, but when I asked the doctor if I could be told what had caused the blockage, I was told there was nothing there.
"This meant that I was left without any answers as to what had caused these problems for Rossa, and if he had swallowed something I would not know what it was because doctors wouldn't tell me.
"If it wasn't for the support of my family and the amazing nurses on the ward I don't know how we would have coped throughout it all and Rossa has never been the same since because the experience was so traumatic for him."
Rossa returned home for a few days after his three weeks in hospital, however had to return again after his bowel troubles began to return.
The Belfast Trust has said that it apologies if any remarks made by any member of staff caused offence.
A spokesperson said: "Belfast Trust would like to reassure Simone Burgoyne that the wellbeing and health of her son Rossa is of paramount importance to us.
"We apologise if any remarks made by any member of staff caused offence and whilst we cannot go into the details of an individual’s care, we will continue to liaise with Rossa’s family directly."
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