AusLeisure

A NSW mother says she is “embarrassed and ashamed” after she was asked to leave a NSW aquatic centre having been breastfeeding in the swimming pool.

The mother, who first reported the incident at the Lakeside Leisure Centre in the Newcastle Hunter Mums Group on Facebook, later sought anonymity when the matter was reported by Yahoo7.

She advised that she was nursing her baby in the public pool, while supervising her three-year-old who was swimming nearby.

She wrote “the lifeguard, a young female, asked me to leave because they don’t want milk getting in the pool and because my 10-month-old son might vomit in the pool.

“I asked to see the pool’s policy on this and she informed me there is no policy about breastfeeding but that they don’t allow food and drink in the pool and if my kid vomits in the pool then everyone has to get out.

“I told her that I can’t stop the milk coming out when I have a let down, and that asking me to leave the pool because I’m breastfeeding is illegal.”

The woman said the incident, which occurred in later January, was the second time she was asked to leave the Lakeside Leisure Centre pool, in the suburb of Raymond Terrace, near Newcastle, while breastfeeding.

She added “the lifeguard’s reasons are pathetic, they show a clear lack of understanding of basic human biology and of the law. It’s ignorance on their part.

“The first time I was so incredibly embarrassed and ashamed that it happened to me, I’ve only ever heard of it happening to other people.

“The second time I was angry, I am more confident in myself as a mother and of my legal rights to breastfeed anywhere, anytime, including in a public pool if I choose.”

The mother explained her understanding that it was the Centre’s policy for her to remain within one metre of her three-year-old boy while he is in the water, as he is younger than five-years-old. (Watch Around Water guidance is for children under five years of age to be accompanied by a responsible adult and supervised within arm’s reach at all times - see below, Ed.).

So when her baby needed to feed, the mother felt the easiest and safest option was to feed him sitting in the shallow end of the pool while her older son swam around them.

After sharing the account on various community Facebook groups, the woman was met with varied responses.

She advised “some people agreed with the lifeguards, others were overwhelmingly supportive.

“But overall, it shows to me that there is still so much misinformation out there about a breastfeeding mother’s right to feed her child anywhere, at any time.”

Lakeside Leisure Centre management confirmed to Yahoo7 they were investigating the complaint, however could not respond to questions about the centre’s breastfeeding policy.

Watch Around Water policies are:

• Children under five years of age must be accompanied into the centre with a responsible adult and supervised within arm’s reach at all times
• Children under 10 years of age must be accompanied into the centre with a responsible adult and supervised within line of sight at all times
• Unsupervised children may be removed from the water

Abuse of pool lifeguards by the public is a feature in the latest Australasian Leisure Management.

Image: A NSW mother said she was asked to leave her local pool while breastfeeding her baby. Source: Newcastle Hunter Mums Group/Facebook.

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18th December 2018 - Canterbury Bankstown Council launches summer pool safety campaign

14th December 2018 - Experts call for greater parental supervision of children at public pools this summer

12th October 2018 - Life Saving Victoria’s Watch Around Water urges parents to put their down phones when at the pool

25th September 2018 - Adventure Park Geelong becomes Watch Around Water first

30th June 2016 - YMCA NSW to end management of Raymond Terrace fitness and recreation facility

18th January 2013 - Breastfeeding mothers to protest at Bribie Island Aquatic Leisure Centre

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