Police called on 2 mothers breastfeeding at pool; more than a dozen moms join them in protest
07/24/2018 8:58 pm PDT
via WITI:
MORA, Minn. -- (WITI) -- Two moms were asked to leave a public pool in Minnesota last week because the staff said they were making other patrons uncomfortable when they breastfed.
Just days later, more than a dozen moms returned to the site of the confrontation to publicly nurse their children.
Some drove as far as 90 miles for the “nurse-in” Saturday near the Mora Aquatic Center, about 70 miles north of Minneapolis.
Buchanan and her sister-in-law, Mary Davis, took six kids to the Mora Aquatic Center on Wednesday for a swim. When Buchanan's 3-month-old son got fussy at the kiddie pool, she decided to feed him. Buchanan slipped down the strap of her one-piece to feed Roman, but she was interrupted by another guest.
“A patron came up, a lady, at the pool and told me that I needed to cover up because her sons were swimming,” Buchanan told WCCO.
A staff member also approached Buchanan and asked her to be more discreet or go to the locker area, she told the station.
She refused. Police were called, and Buchanan and Davis, who also had breastfed her baby in the wading area, decided to leave.
The moms plan to file discrimination claims against the city of Mora and Kanabec County. Buchanan also wrote about the episode in a Facebook post, prompting Saturday's “nurse-in.”
Minnesota law says a mother can breastfeed in any place, public or private. That includes public swimming pools.
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