Misty Daugereaux says she was asked to leave a public pool for breastfeeding her baby. The city has apologized.
A group of moms held a “nurse-in” at a Texas swimming pool to support a woman who says she was kicked out for breastfeeding her baby.
Misty Daugereaux was at the Nessler Park Family Aquatic Center in Texas City on Sunday when her 10-month-old needed to eat.
She said she was discreetly nursing her son when a lifeguard and a manager approached and told her it was against the pool’s rules.
“She [the manager] said you need to cover up or leave,” Daugereaux told CNN affiliate KTRK. “She gave me the ultimatum. And I said, ‘Well, you show me in your policy where I need to cover up and I’ll leave.’ And, she was telling me that it was not right, that I needed to cover up. It was their policy. And I said, ‘Well, you can go call whoever you need to call, but I’m not leaving for breastfeeding my son.'”
Police were called and Daugereaux, who was there with her nephew and two sons, was asked to leave the pool. Texas City is in southeast Texas, near Galveston.
“I walked out feeling defeated because I couldn’t … stand my ground,” she said.
The Texas City police department posted footage from the responding officer’s body camera on its Facebook page.
Texas law says that “a mother is entitled to breast-feed her baby in any location in which the mother is authorized to be.”
City officials promised to review their policies and proceduresin a statement issued Monday.
“We, the City of Texas City are reviewing the nursing concerns raised at the Nessler Pool and how it was addressed by our staff. 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,” the statement said.
About a half-dozen women and their young children participated in a protest Monday to express their right to breastfeed wherever they need to. Daugereaux told KTRK that most of the moms were from a Galveston County breastfeeding support group.
She also said she would continue to nurse her son in public when he gets hungry.
A similar incident happened last July in Mora, Minnesota, where two mothers were asked to leave a public pool for breastfeeding their children. More than a dozen moms staged a “nurse-in” protest at the pool a few days later.
