Misty Daugereaux is a registered nurse and mother of two who says she was recently asked to leave a public pool for breastfeeding her 10-month-old son.
Misty told BuzzFeed she was at Nessler Park Family Aquatic Center in Texas with her 4-year-old son Noah, 10-month-old son Maxx, and 4-year-old nephew Roman in the kids' play area. "At some point, Maxx decided he wanted to nurse. I conveniently had on a bathing suit with a peep hole in my chest, so I just slid the hole to one side and allowed him to latch. He quickly got distracted and decided he was done."
Misty says her son nursed again and that was when a lifeguard came up behind her and asked if she was breastfeeding. She recalls, "I stated 'yes' and he responded, 'You can’t do that here, this is a public pool.' I stood up, turned around, and told him, 'Oh yes I can!'"
After the lifeguard insisted she could not breastfeed, the manager was called over. Misty says the manager told her, "'This is a public pool and you have to be covered.' She [the manager] told me it was their policy and if I didn't follow the rules, I would have to leave."
Misty says she decided not to leave, but to get out of the water and sit in the chairs instead. A short time later, she saw a police officer talking to the manager. "He walked over and asked me what happened, so I explained it to him." Misty says the cop told her the manager of the pool was requesting that she leave.
After the encounter with the officer, Misty says she was afraid to stand her ground out of fear of getting arresting in front of her children. "I grabbed my bag and took the boys out the water and headed out. As we were waking out, my tot asked, 'Momma, why won’t that cop let you feed Maxx?' At that point, I lost it and started crying inconsolably."
"In my four years of nursing, I have never experienced anything of the sort...nor have I witnessed anything like it. While it was happening, I just kept telling myself to stay calm and be respectful," she recalls. "I felt defeated and ashamed that I wasn't able to stand my ground. I knew I had the right to breastfeed my son, yet I allowed someone to make me feel less than I was. I felt weak."
Misty says when she got home her son told her husband and mother-in-law what happened and they were both very upset. "My husband suggested that I post what happened on social media in a mom's group I’m in, so I did." The incident quickly got the attention of other moms in the group.
The next morning, a group of moms got together to do a "nurse in" in front of the pool in support of Misty. When Misty arrived, she said the love and support was overwhelming. "I didn’t even know a single mom there, and am forever grateful for every message, text, and call that I have received in a show of support," she says.
