Texas Moms Hold ‘Nurse-In’ At Public Pool Where Breastfeeding Mom Was Kicked Out
A public pool in Texas that kicked out a breastfeeding mother was the target for a “nurse-in” this week, with a group of mothers showing to protest by nursing their own babies.
The incident took place in Texas City, Texas, over the weekend and garnered viral interest. As NBC News reported, mother Misty Daugereaux was nursing her child at the Nessler Family Aquatic Center when a manager asked her to cover up. Police eventually responded to the incident, and body camera footage showed that a lifeguard accused Daugereaux of swearing at him.
The mom said that she refused to leave for breastfeeding her baby, but denied using any bad language.
“I have two three-year-olds with me, I’m not gonna cuss somebody out,” Daugereaux said to the officer.
“I’m just going to stand for what I believe in and feed my baby.”
Daugereaux also pushed back against the allegation that she was uncovered as she breastfed her 10-month-old.
“I had a slit down in my bathing suit so I kind of slid it over to the side and I put him on and I had my hand kinda covering the top of my skin and a lifeguard came from behind me a kind of leaned over my shoulder and was like ma’am are you breastfeeding? And I was like, ‘Yes, as a matter of fact, I am,’ ” she said in an interview with Click2Houston.
The video showed that the mom was eventually escorted out of the pool by police, and a post she shared on the pool’s Facebook page complaining about the incident has attracted viral interest. On Monday, a group of mothers showed up to the pool to protest. One of the women who showed up to protest in support of the mom told Click2Houston she found it ironic that in a public pool, a place where women can wear bikinis that are often revealing, a woman would be kicked out for breastfeeding her child.
The case has also attracted national attention, with many news outlets picking up on the story and people speaking out in support of the breastfeeding mom on social media.
Texas law says that "a mother is entitled to breast-feed her baby in any location in which the mother is authorized to be." https://t.co/T6gCHaoRCg
— CNN (@CNN) June 11, 2019
The city ended up issuing an apology, with Texas City Mayor Matthew T. Doyle releasing a statement saying they would investigate the incident and offering a personal apology to Misty Daugereaux. Texas law states that women are allowed to breastfeed anywhere in public where the woman is authorized to be.
