More on the Kelly Fuks Breastfeeding Incident

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Friday, January 13, 2006

Had the following passed on to my via email a short while ago regarding the Ann Arbor breastfeeding at the Y incident. Thanks to Jon of the Chocolate Runner's Blog for sending it and allowing me to publish.

I listened to Fuks on the radio this morning and she said that bottle feeding was also not allowed in the pool area. She said the lifeguard came over and told her she "could not do that here". So she apologized and moved to the pool deck (apparently she was standing in the shallow pool while her son was walking on the deck area). She said she had been told that she could nurse on the deck. Then the lifeguard told her "No, you can't do 'that' anywere. We've had problems with this before and you can't do 'that' here." She emphasized the word "that" when she was telling the story.

She seemed to think that nobody noticed until she had to turn to her left to talk to her son on the deck, while she was nursing on the right side. She said her bathing suit has a bit of cleavage though, and while nursing, she is actually more covered on the nursing side than on the other.

She did make the comment several times that the lifeguards are "professionals" and they are doing their job to keep people safe. She seemed to want to make sure it was not the fault of the lilfeguard in particular.

I see your point that if bottle feeding is not allowed, then nursing probably could not be justified either. It was strange that this was not pointed out by the YMCA. Maybe the media did not say it.

I just found it odd that you could not breastfeed a baby because it was food and drink, and that's unsanitary in a pool. Even though you would might certainly expect some leakage from a nursing mother while in the water anyway.

Labels: In the News, Lactivism, Nursing in Public

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