In the newspaper and on the net today in Fife, a small community just
north of Tacoma WA.  This appeared in the Tacoma News Tribune

http://www.tribnet.com/frame.asp?/news/local/0922b31.html

BREAST-FEEDING MOM TOLD SHE CAN'T SWIM IN POOL

[in the city of] FIFE: Though 'bodily fluids' excuse doesn't wash, pool
manager says babies are at risk

by: Debbie Cafazzo; The News Tribune

When Laurie Waldherr's 4-month-old got a little fussy during family swim
night in Fife, she decided it was
time to breast-feed him.

So she sat down with the baby at the side of the toddler pool, in order
to keep an eye on her 3-year-old who
was in the water with friends. She dangled her feet in the water and put
the baby to her breast underneath
her tank top.

To Waldherr, it was a natural response.

But the lifeguard on duty at the Fife City Pool on Monday night, a young
woman, told Waldherr she needed
to move to the bleachers to breast-feed.

Waldherr did, but when she asked the lifeguard if she could go back into
the water after she finished, she
was told no.

The reason? She was "leaking bodily fluids," Waldherr said she was told.

After she got the same line of reasoning from another pool staff member,
Waldherr and her husband, Bart,
got mad and decided to leave.

"I was so angry I was just shaking," Laurie Waldherr said. "I told her,
'You guys need to be educated.' "

Fife pool officials agree the pool workers may have overreacted by
telling Waldherr she couldn't continue
swimming after breast-feeding. In fact, they've directed the two staff
members to write letters to the
Waldherrs saying so.

"We are trying to make amends," said pool manager Rick Staples. "We want
to make sure that the next time
they come in they are happy."

"At least it's an acknowledgement," Laurie Waldherr said, adding that
she hopes pool staff members can
become more educated on the subject.

"It bothers me that I should feel like I'm some sort of rebel," she
said. "I understand that the pool has got a completely different
perspective, but I get angry being made to feel like a militant feminist
because I'm
feeding my baby. It doesn't seem like it should even be an issue."

But Staples and Fife Parks and Recreation Director Michael LaFreniere
said pool workers were right to be
concerned. Not because breast-feeding in public might offend someone,
they said, but because
breast-feeding close to the water could put an infant at risk.

"The issue is the health and welfare of the child," LaFreniere said.
"Pools are not a hygienic environment.
That's why they have to be chlorinated."

He said there is a danger that a baby being fed at poolside could be
splashed, ingest pathogens in the water,
such as cryptosporidium, and become ill.

Cryptosporidium is a parasite excreted in the feces of infected people
that can cause profuse diarrhea.
Drinking contaminated pool water can spread the infection, and pool
managers say the parasite is highly
resistant to certain kinds of pool disinfection and filtration.

Salmonella can also be spread through pool water, according to Staples.

He said that while current pool rules don't mention a prohibition on
breast-feeding near the water, the pool
is getting ready to write a new manual that will cover the issue.

State Sen. Jeri Costa (D-Everett) has unsuccessfully sponsored
legislation designed to protect women from
harassment when breast-feeding in public places. She thinks pool
managers' arguments about a danger to
infants being breast-fed near a pool are ridiculous.

"A baby is going to ingest much more water in the pool" than when
nursing, Costa said. And babies are
allowed in the Fife pool, as long as they're wearing a diaper and rubber
pants, Staples said.

Staples said he doesn't want the Waldherrs going away mad.

"We appreciate their business, and want to make sure they're safe and
enjoy the time they spend here," he
said.

- - -

* Reach staff writer Debbie Cafazzo at 253-597-8635 or
[log in to unmask]

© The News Tribune

09/22/2000

To comment to editor:  [log in to unmask]

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