Kristen Laface never used to give a second thought about breastfeeding her two-and-a-half month old son, Mason, in public.
But a recent incident at the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre has left her so upset, that she now thinks twice.
Laface was at the City of Greater Sudbury-owned facility May 17, when Mason became fussy. She got out of the pool, and sat down on a window ledge on the pool deck to nurse the baby, covering herself up with a towel.
“The female lifeguard came out of the office, and told me 'You can't do that here,'” she said. “It kind of caught me off guard. I said 'Why not?' She said 'It's city policy.'”
Laface said went to the changeroom to nurse her son, but now wishes she'd stood her ground.
“Once I got to the changeroom, I couldn't believe it,” she said. “I was very embarrassed, and very, very upset that I had to sit in a freezing cold changeroom to feed my son, while we were soaking wet.”
Although Laface has received an apology from the city, she decided she wanted to raise awareness of the issue.
That's why she and nine other mothers held a “nurse-in” at the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre in Hanmer on June 2.
“We just sat in the lobby very peacefully, and nursed our babies, and talked a little bit,” she said. “We didn't want to stay too long. It wasn't about revenge against the Howard Armstrong. It was more to raise awareness.”
While members of the public reacted very positively to the demonstration, smiling and talking to the participants, and checking out the babies, Laface said the facility's staff looked very uncomfortable.
Cindy Dent, the City of Greater Sudbury's manager of recreation, said, despite the lifeguard's statement to Laface, the city doesn't have a no-breastfeeding policy.
Women have the right to publicly breastfeed, including in city facilities, under the Ontario Human Rights Code, she said.
“We've always been supportive of breastfeeding in our facilities.”
Dent said she personally phoned Laface, and gave her a “well-deserved” apology.
“We were in error in asking her to move, and anything else that happened with that situation,” she said.
“So we've certainly taken steps that we feel will better educate staff for the fact that breastfeeding is allowed openly, anywhere, at any time, and that we continue to provide training opportunities.”
Megan Dumais, manager of the family health team at the Sudbury and District Health, said she thinks it's unfortunate this incident happened, but gives props to Laface for publicly breastfeeding in the first place.
“It is a human rights issue,” she said. “It would be great if all agencies really took the stance ... around supporting mothers and their breastfeeding practices in public.”
Despite the fact it's a right, there are barriers to public breastfeeding, mostly related to the sexualization of breasts, or cultural concerns surrounding nudity, Dumais said.
But it's important not to discourage women from breastfeeding, because breast milk is the best thing for babies, she said.
It has proven health benefits that include increased immunity to diseases and preventing obesity, she said. When possible, babies should be fed breast milk exclusively for the first six months of their lives.
It was partly because she knows the importance of breastfeeding that Laface was prompted to organize the “nurse-in.”
“It's a beautiful, natural thing,” she said. “I feel very privileged to be able to do that for my children. There's a lot of women I personally know who have a hard time with breastfeeding, and it's devastating.
“I know of lot of first-time moms who are close to me, who will go to their car to breastfeed their children, or go and sit in the washroom, on a toilet, to feed their children, because they're so uncomfortable with the public's reaction.”
