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Woman told to leave pool area at YMCA  

post #1 of 33
1/12/06 at 12:37am
Thread Starter 
Has this already been discussed? Just heard about it today.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/6005947/detail.html
post #2 of 33
1/12/06 at 12:42am
I read the article and I think the issue is more about not being allowed food by the pool than about breastfeeding. The article says she could of breastfed in the lobby, not just in the locker room. The policy is against eating, not breastfeeding.
post #3 of 33
1/12/06 at 9:21am
I think that the "no water, no food" policy as an excuse is a CYA (cover your ***) deal if she was originally told that the reason was the distraction to the lifeguards.

My husband actually woke me up last night as he came to bed to tell me about the story (local news for us). So I was feeling some righteous indignation as I fell back asleep.
post #4 of 33
1/12/06 at 9:34am
Arghhhh.... I would have thought better of the Ann Arbor YMCA! : I used to go there, when they were in their old building. I mean, good grief, it's Ann Arbor, former home of the Naked Mile! I've seen all kinds of stuff in this town, and a nursing baby would be one of the *least* shocking to me!
post #5 of 33
1/12/06 at 9:41am
Typical Michigan. Do they allow bottles of formula in the area?

Locals can PM me for info on the Nurse Out Michigan yahoo group.

I get discriminataed against for nursing fairly often.
post #6 of 33
1/12/06 at 10:42am
What is it with the YMCA/YWCA??? It seems like there have been a lot of threads here lately about them telling nursing mothers to leave their pools. :
Maybe we should start a boycott of the YMCA/YWCA!
post #7 of 33
1/12/06 at 11:39am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BetsyPage
Arghhhh.... I would have thought better of the Ann Arbor YMCA! : I used to go there, when they were in their old building. I mean, good grief, it's Ann Arbor, former home of the Naked Mile! I've seen all kinds of stuff in this town, and a nursing baby would be one of the *least* shocking to me!

Exactly! My dh went to U of M and I went to Eastern. We still spend a good amount of time in Ann Arbor. Unbelievable! And I think the "no food" thing was an excuse as well. Once when I was at the pool at Lifetime fitness I was told to leave the pool and nurse in the bathroom stall and that next time I could bring a bottle. I know many of you have heard this story before but it still kills me!
post #8 of 33
1/12/06 at 11:50am
I hate to tell them but nursing mums are smuggling milk in all the time. What is the difference in the lobby and the side of the pool?

I can tell you when I had my big ol nursing boobs they were NOT attractive to any teen lifeguard Im guessing they avoided looking at mine.
post #9 of 33
1/12/06 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JBaxter
I hate to tell them but nursing mums are smuggling milk in all the time. What is the difference in the lobby and the side of the pool?

.
Boobs...the perfect way to smuggle in breastmilk.

What would they count a bottle of formula as? Or even a bottle of breastmilk. Would they really have a problem with someone bottle feeding a hungry baby near the pool? I doubt it and think they are totally backpedaling.
post #10 of 33
1/12/06 at 12:39pm
I worked as a life guard and swim instructor at a Y all during college. While we never kicked anyone out for breastfeeding, I wonder if the justification had something to do with a concern about bodily fluids and contamination? If blood, vomit, or poo got in the pool, we had to get everyone out and close the pool to chemically "shock" it. The process took about 12 hours. It was a major pain that made members unhappy. From my experiences, I would guess that it probably wasn't specifically about breast feeding, but the whole (OSHA induced) universal procaution, body fluids thing. I really hope it wasn't just about control and distracted lifeguards.

Guards see EVERYTHING and become pretty de-sensitized to the human body- I hope that the guard wasn't that prude about a boob after seeing old men in tiny little speedos day after day .

I really loved working at the Y and thought they did a great job promoting happy, healthy families. I hate to see them get a bad rap.
post #11 of 33
1/12/06 at 12:48pm
Okay, how are we going to bleed by breastfeeding? Are we going to ban menustrating women (I know women that swim during this time). Vomit? Who? The baby? Maybe that's where a towel comes in handy...more than likely she's nursing by the pool, not in it. Also, nursing mom's LEAK. So are we going to ban women that are now lactating altogether?

If you throw in all the kids and everyone else at the pool, spitting out water, blowing their nose in the pool (to clear out water), little ones peeing, etc...well, then you have to figure pools are already disgusting places in general to begin with. I don't think a nursing mom on the sidelines is going to add to any issues that are already there.
post #12 of 33
1/12/06 at 12:56pm
Yeah, but bm isn't considered a bodily fluid. Hospitals are allowed to just dump it down the drain.
post #13 of 33
1/12/06 at 1:05pm
I wasn't agreeing with the logic- just trying to point out where they might be coming from. When I took the OSHA classes (this was probably 7 years ago), we were taught that breast milk is a bodily fluid and diseases like HIV and Hep can spread through it. Pools are dirty places, indeed. There are lots of laws in place because of this. They don't all make sense and they are certainly not perfect. I was just guessing what the logic behind the decision was b/c the article didn't explain it very well. I obviously wasn't advocating throwing bfing moms out of pool decks.
post #14 of 33
1/12/06 at 2:30pm
Once again, I direct everyone interested or working on this issue (breastfeeding in pools) to this wonderful, comprehensive report on this issue.
http://members.shaw.ca/barbstrange/Pools/Pools.htm

It was prepared by Barb Strange of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She was asked to leave a municipal pool there. unfortunately for them, she is a nurse, IBCLC and a lawyer! And her dh is a law professor! So she wrote this report, organizes a coalition, and got the city's bfing policy reversed.

Please feel free to use any of her research ( I know her personally)

Janice
post #15 of 33
1/12/06 at 8:53pm
Wow Janice, that is a wonderful document. Thank you for posting it.
post #16 of 33
1/13/06 at 2:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BetsyPage
Arghhhh.... I would have thought better of the Ann Arbor YMCA! : I used to go there, when they were in their old building. I mean, good grief, it's Ann Arbor, former home of the Naked Mile! I've seen all kinds of stuff in this town, and a nursing baby would be one of the *least* shocking to me!

I know, I have actually nursed a 3 year old in the middle of the mall and no one ever even looked twice, I'm in complete shock...my dh's office is right behind the Y.
post #17 of 33
1/13/06 at 10:36am
refresh my memory--isn't the law in Michigan that a woman can breastfeed anywhere she's legally allowed to be?
post #18 of 33
1/13/06 at 2:24pm
Unfortunately it is not just Michigan (I am orginally from there). The only place that I have ever been asked to leave while breastfeeding was at the YMCA in West Seattle. I was upsetting the other people at the pool. I guess it was good that I was only nursing my 7 month old and not my 3 year old. That really would have put them over the edge. I think this just goes to show that the YMCA needs to get a breastfeeding policy on the books.
post #19 of 33
1/13/06 at 3:53pm

Nurse In Jan 28 12-1pm

Locals please save this date. More details to follow.

Sue
post #20 of 33
1/13/06 at 4:00pm
I was wrong about the law in Michigan. here it is:

Mich. Comp. Laws §§ 41.181,67.1aa, and 117.4i (1994) states that public nudity laws do not apply to a woman breastfeeding a child.

That's the extent of it. We need better laws!
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