A breastfeeding mom from Texas said she was hurt and ashamed after an officer ordered her to leave a public pool on Sunday for breastfeeding her 10-month-old baby named Maxx at the Nessler Family Aquatic Center in Texas City.
“I had a small slit in my top, so I slid it over so he could nurse,” Maxx’s mother, Misty Daugereaux, said.
Daugereaux said a lifeguard told her she had to stop feeding Maxx because it was a public pool.
“Then the manager told me I had to cover up, follow the rules or leave,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
The manager then called police, according to KVUE.
She and the lifeguard seen in the video tell the officer that Daugereaux cussed them out after they told her to cover up.
Daugereaux denies their claims, but the officer tells her to leave anyway.
“But I don’t understand how it’s right,” she tells the officer.
“I don’t understand either,” he replies.
“I don’t make the rules.”
Daugereaux starts to leave, saying she doesn’t want to make a scene in front of her young daughter and nephew.
So she leaves in tears.
“You can’t just have your titties out everywhere…. I mean I get that you gotta feed your kid. That’s all fine and dandy, but go sit under a blanket or something,” the officer can be heard on body cam later telling the manager.
“I’m so hurt, embarrassed and ashamed that this is what Texas City stands for,” Daugereaux wrote on Facebook.
Now, after thousands of comments on her post, a group of moms organized a “nurse-in” at Nessler Family Aquatic Center on Monday.
Daugereaux says she’s heard from breastfeeding mothers from as far away as England.
“I’ve tried to be as discreet as possible whenever it comes to breastfeeding already. I understand views and people’s opinions,” she said on Monday.
“But not to the point where you get kicked out of a public space because you decide to feed your child.”
Texas City Mayor Matthew T. Doyle said on Monday their nursing policy and the staff’s response to breastfeeding at the pool is under review.
“We apologize to Misty Daugereaux as it is clear she was offended by how she was treated at our city facility. City policies and procedures will be reviewed and revised as deemed necessary. Any deficiencies regarding our employee’s actions will be addressed with further training.”
Body cam footage of the interaction can be seen above.
