Unisex baby change areas call by dad and campaign group

He has two young children, and has often had to use whatever flat surface is available to change them.

“You have to take off your jacket and put it on the toilet, and that often isn’t the most clean environment,” he said.

“If you’re on your own, that’s your only choice, but if you’re not on your own it’s always the woman that has to do the changing.”

Charlotte Fischer, co-director of Love and Power, said that due to a lack of access to changing facilities, her partner had changed their children on surfaces that are not “particularly safe or hygienic”.

“And I’ve had to change more than my fair share of nappies when they’ve been available, but only in women’s toilets,” she said.

The issue is a “sexist annoyance”, and a “reminder of whose job an organisation thinks childcare is”, Ms Fischer said.

“But for gay dads, widowed dads, single dads, or dads who just want to be able to take their kids out on their own, it’s a real barrier to public space and a reflection of the lack of public support caregiving of any kind gets,” she said.

The campaign aims to start locally, urging more building operators to make unisex facilities available, before moving towards a national law, inspired by legislation introduced in the United States by former President Barack Obama.