An angry mom-of-five has to get something off her chest.
Sarah Lappin, 31, from North Wales, claims a lifeguard publicly humiliated her when he ordered her to stop breastfeeding her 5-month-old baby boy at the edge of the swimming pool at Rhyl Leisure Center in Rhyl recently.
“It’s the rules,” the lifeguard reportedly told Lappin as she soothed her child.
“I carried on feeding my baby as I know there’s no such rule, and have done it with five children now for nearly a decade in that same pool,” Lappin told Wales Online.
“Moments after, he whistled at me again, and said I will have to leave if I carry on breastfeeding in the pool. I kept my calm and replied that I can’t stop him once he’s on. Everyone was looking now.”
Following the incident, Lapin said she confronted the deputy manager who told her there was “no such rule” and apologized to her for the young male lifeguard’s behavior.
While Lappin said the incident at the pool was the first time she encountered such a negative reaction to breastfeeding one her children, confrontations like the one she experienced might be enough to discourage new mothers from public breastfeeding.
“It could have spoiled a beautiful breastfeeding journey for a mother and her baby, and seriously knocked the mother’s confidence to feed in public again. This act is just one of the reasons moms don’t want to breastfeed; because of the judgment out there and the lack of public support,” she told the local outlet.
Lappin explained that public breastfeeding comes with harmful stigmas which could impact the natural bond between mother and child.
“There are people who think it’s nudity, or that it should be done in private or at least covered with a blanket or in a breastfeeding room hidden away. It’s wrong to think a mother has to hide to do a perfectly natural thing. It’s our right as women to feed our babies where we want, as it’s not just a source of food, it’s their comfort and makes them feel safe. It’s normal to breastfeed, and not something to hide in private, as it’s a perfectly natural thing to do,” Lappin said.
A spokesperson from the leisure center apologized to Lappin for her experience but took issue with Lappin breastfeeding in the swimming pool.
“We do not prevent any person from breastfeeding in our facilities, but on this occasion, the breastfeeding was taking place in the water. It is very unclear whether or not a baby should or should not be fed in the water due to conflicting views on the health risks and the heightened risk of vomiting in the pool which would result in a pool closure,” the spokesperson said.
“We will, therefore, take further advice from healthcare professionals and adjust our policies and training accordingly based on the advice we receive. We apologize for any offense this may have caused.”
Lappin argued that breastmilk is not only safe, it has antimicrobial and antiviral properties.
“Breast milk does not pose any health hazard to other swimmers. If it did, then pools would need to ban all lactating women from using them. Even if any breast milk gets into the water, it is actually antibacterial and antimicrobial, and won’t cause any problems. Also, the breast milk will protect the baby from any harmful bacteria in the water,” she said.
Breast milk’s healing properties can actually make it change color when coming into contact with a sick baby. A TikToker learned this firsthand earlier this year when her breast milk turned blue after her body started making antibodies to pass on to her child through the milk.