KOKOMO, Ind. – A mother of four says she was told to stop breastfeeding her child in public.
Kayla Britton said a lifeguard at Kokomo Beach Water Park told her she wasn’t allowed to breastfeed in public and that she needed to “go sit in a dressing room to do that.”
Britton said she told the lifeguard ‘no’ and kept feeding her child.
“I do not [need to stop]. It is the law that anywhere I’m allowed to be, I’m allowed to feed my child,” Britton said on Facebook.
Indiana law allows a mother to breastfeed anywhere the law allows her to be, including at public pools and water parks.
The city, which oversees the water park, claims the lifeguard was concerned about the child’s safety.
In a statement, city officials said Britton was walking in a pool while breastfeeding and the lifeguard feared the baby could “ingest pool chemicals.”
Britton denied the claim. She says she was at the water’s edge, not in a pool.
She said on Facebook that “breastfeeding shaming is unacceptable” and that she hopes others will learn from her experience.
(Photo by UIG/Marka.)
