Mum told to stop breastfeeding at pool

WHEN Laura Whotton's 11-week-old son became hungry while her family were at John Carroll Leisure Centre in Radford she did the most natural thing in the world. She started breastfeeding him.

The 26-year-old, from Carrington, was by the side of the pool and both herself and little Joshua were wrapped in towels.

"There was nothing on show and it looked like I was just holding my baby," said Laura.

"People in bikinis were showing more skin and breast than I was."

However, that is not how the lifeguard on duty saw things.

He told Laura she could not feed by the poolside because it was a public area. He suggested she go to a private room instead.

Laura said: "It was ridiculous because the first thing he said to me was 'are you breastfeeding?' He couldn't actually be sure I was!

"When I said 'yes', he told me I couldn't feed by the pool as there were children present.

"My four-year-old son, Thomas, who's a good swimmer, was still in the water and I didn't want to leave him on his own.

"I was feeding a baby; it's the most natural thing in the world and I was made to feel like I was doing something terrible."

Laura said she was left "extremely angry and upset" by the incident, on May 2.

"In the end he told me if I didn't go to the private room we would have to leave, so we left."

Laura and her husband, Craig, are still awaiting a response from Nottingham City Council after they sent a letter of complaint.

However, a council spokeswoman told the Evening Post breastfeeding breached its strict rule of no food and drink by the poolside.

The spokeswoman said: "The council's policy is to enable mothers to breastfeed in all council centres, including leisure centres.

"The only exception to this rule at leisure centres is in the swimming pool and surrounding area, where, in the interests of safety and hygiene, there is a policy of no food or drink. This rule also covers breastfeeding, as it would the bottle feeding of a baby, or the consumption of food or drink by a child or adult.

"The policy also identifies that should other customers have concerns or feel uncomfortable in seeing a mother breastfeeding, they would be advised to move to another area, to support the mother's right to feed their child."

Laura said: "There are no signs at the pool. They should make that policy clearer.

"It's not like breastfeeding makes a mess; it's very clean.

"We're always being told that the Government wants more young women to breastfeed and then this happens to me."

Laura, on maternity leave from her job at Argos, said she usually went to the pool at Noel Street, in Basford, but it was closed on that day.

"I've never had a problem there," she said.

Denise Pemberton, a lactation consultant and midwife in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, laughed off the council's ruling as "ridiculous."

She said it was good for other children to see a mother breastfeeding as it helped to normalise the act.

"It's what breasts were made for," she said.

National Breastfeeding Awareness Week, which continues until Sunday, is calling for more support from local services so mums have the confidence to breastfeed their baby in public.

The National Childbirth Trust, which runs the campaign, declined to comment on this case.

However, spokeswoman Anne Fox said: "Support from local venues can give mums confidence and can also make a positive difference to their baby's health."

The National Childbirth Trust's breastfeeding counsellors are available 8am to 10pm seven days a week on 0300 330 0771.