A mom is speaking out after she was escorted from a public pool simply for breastfeeding her baby.
When Misty Daugereaux headed to the pool with her children, the last thing she expected was to be approached by a police officer and escorted from the property for feeding her son.
After sharing her story in a viral Facebook post, Misty gained the support of breastfeeding moms from around the country.
Misty Daugereaux is a mom from Texas to two children.
A recent family trip to the Nessler Family Aquatic Center should have been a day of fun in the sun but ended with the cops being called on Misty.
Misty was at the park with her four-year-old daughter, another four-year-old, and her 10-month-old son, Maxx.
Misty breastfeeds Maxx and when he became hungry at the park, she began to breastfeed him in a pool chair.
According to Misty, she was wearing a shirt with a slit in it so that she could discretely breastfeed her son.
However, as she nursed Maxx, she was approached by a lifeguard at the pool and was told she couldn’t breastfeed in public.
Soon, the pool’s manager also approached Misty and told her cover up or leave.
Misty recounted her experience in a Facebook post that has since gone viral and made national news.
“I’m so hurt, embarrassed and ASHAMED, that this is what TEXAS CITY STANDS FOR. They’re employees should be educated! They’re manger could of used that moment to educate her staff!” she said in her Facebook post.
The pool manager ended up calling the police to escort Misty from the pool.
A police officer showed up to the scene and questioned Misty about what happened.
The officer’s bodycam footage from the incident has been released.
In the video, Misty is emotional as she explains that she has a right to feed her baby at the pool.
Ultimately the officer tells her to leave the pool for violating its rules and for allegedly swearing at pool staff.
Since sharing her story online, Misty’s post has been shared nearly 2,000 times and has nearly 4,000 comments.
Some commenters sided with the pool and said that Misty should have covered up so that she wouldn’t be “exposing” herself to other children at the pool.
However, other moms have come out to support Misty and even staged a “nurse-in” at the pool.
Since the incident, the city of Texas City, which owns the pool, has apologized to Misty.
“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,” they said.
