A mother breastfeeding her baby in a public swimming pool is "invited" to do so in the changing room

It is not the first time that we echo an incident of discrimination in a swimming pool to a mother breastfeeding her baby. It is unfortunate that in the times we live in, something as natural as feeding a baby is still seen as something bad or dirty. In this case, it happened to a mother from Montcada i Reixac (Barcelona) who was “invited” to breastfeed her six-month-old baby in the changing room .

Sandra Zamorano was on July 13 at the Montcada Aqua municipal swimming pool when her baby Nil asked for her breast, so she decided to sit on the edge of the pool and start breastfeeding him. The most natural thing in the world.

Despite the fact that none of the bathers present complained – and perhaps they did not even notice the scene – a few minutes later an employee of the facility approached the mother to warn her that she should go to the changing room to breastfeed because ” they had to give an image. “

The mother agreed to leave the pool, but decided that the thing would not stop there. So, he put a complaint form against the pool management company and made it public through his Facebook, as you can see below.

In the message of the publication, she wants to encourage other mothers to assert the right to breastfeed in public and that, as we share with her, the problem lies with those who see it as something obscene and provocative.

“I also encourage women who are currently breastfeeding that if they experience a similar situation to complain and take the appropriate steps, since the problem is not the person who breastfeeds, but rather looks and sees it as something obscene and not as something natural and precious. “

The company’s apologies

The next day, the Montcada Aqua company published a statement on Facebook in which it apologizes for the actions of its worker and ensures that it is possible to breastfeed anywhere in its facilities.

At Montcada Aqua we are convinced that breastfeeding is a right, first of all the baby, and secondly, the mother, supported by official bodies such as WHO, UNICEF, AEP, etc. And yes, we really are in favor of breastfeeding. We do not treat breastfeeding as something that needs to be hidden. We support breastfeeding in any situation and defend the right of the baby to be breastfed anywhere, whether public or private. There has never been any impediment in seventeen years of management for a mother to breastfeed her baby in our sports hall.

We publicly apologize to a mother for a misunderstanding of a worker who also respects and defends breastfeeding , with the interpretation of current safety and hygiene regulations (for risks and prevention of Covid-19) within the facilities / pool, observing A user breastfeeding the playground, sitting on the sidewalk and with his feet in the water, spoke with the user to offer different alternatives near the pool because he could breastfeed. At no time did he want to prohibit or prevent the woman from breastfeeding. We ask that the lynching suffered by this worker on social media be stopped. He regrets the incident and is concerned about the situation caused, as nothing less prohibited breastfeeding his baby on the premises.

Breastfeeding does not have schedules or discriminate places. When the baby asks, he is breastfed, regardless of whether he is in a restaurant, an airplane, a library or a swimming pool. From Babies and more we defend that both the mother and the baby have the right to do it where they want without anyone preventing them . As the Spanish Association of Pediatrics recalls, it is “the responsibility of the whole of society to allow it to be done freely.”

In Babies and more | History repeats itself: a mother is banned from breastfeeding by the pool due to the risk of water contamination, the UN recognizes breastfeeding as a human right for babies and mothers