Mum’s fury after being thrown out of pool for breastfeeding her child
NATALIE Forester was well aware that food and drink shouldn’t be taken into her local swimming pool.
But the mother of three couldn’t believe it when she discovered the ban stretched to breastfeeding. The customer services worker, from Stoke- on-Trent, is furious after was thrown out of the pool for breastfeeding her 18-month-old son Josiah.
The incident unfolded when Josiah became irritable at a baby swimming session at Dimensions leisure centre on July 17. The class was also attended by five other families, with the pool closed to the wider public.
Shortly after moving away from the group and beginning to feed her son, Mrs Forester, 30, was approached by a swimming instructor who asked her to leave the pool.
She said: ‘I was completely baffled when I was approached and asked to exit the
‘Absolutely disgusting attitude’
water. I have been breastfeeding for the last eight years and never had any comment made to me before.’
The leisure centre’s policy states that mothers are encouraged to breastfeed but that it is ‘discouraged’ within pools ‘for the health and comfort of the child’. It says there is a risk of the child ‘regurgitating or vomiting in the pool’.
Mrs Forester, who has helped run a local breastfeeding support group, said the rules potentially breach the Equality Act of 2010. The legislation says ‘a business cannot discriminate against mothers who are breastfeeding a child of any age’.
Recalling the incident, she said: ‘I could tell Josiah was probably hungry and so discreetly took myself away from the group so no one could see. When the instructor asked me to leave the water I was so shocked I just did as I was told.’
She added: ‘The policy is outdated. Babies thrive on being fed in the water.
‘If they are worried about cross contamination, breast milk is sterile, and swimming pools are full of more harmful bodily fluids that I would not like to mention. When breastfeeding, babies could need feeding at any time, so to encourage breastfeeding and then not allow that to happen means the policy makes no sense.
Other mothers have discussed similar concerns about the practice at the centre, run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Staff at the leisure centre were accused of displaying an ‘absolutely disgusting attitude’ in June. Writing on the centre’s Facebook page, user Helen Bridge said staff had ‘ berated’ a mother in front of the others, describing the incident as ‘simply shameful’. Councillor Anthony Munday defended his authority’s policy. He said: ‘We have many areas at our poolside where breastfeeding can take place…We take on board the feedback from mums and will do more to work with them to understand their views and consider if this is something that needs to change for the future.’