I've been contacted by a few people asking for permission to
repost/reprint the story of the mom at a local pool here. I was a little
uncomfortable with having it posted as is, so rewrote it and had the mom
proof it for accuracy. I now have her permission to "publish" the
following re-write.  I would have handled this privately except that I am
going nomail and will be away from my computer for 10 days while
traveling to LLLI conference and vacationing. So, if you wanted to share
this story, please use this version! Okay for WIC newsletter, and
whatever else.
-Lisa Marasco, BA, IBCLC

A positive note from Santa Maria, California--- A mother recently had
been enjoying a public pool with her baby. When baby wanted to nurse, mom
moved to the side of the pool and nursed him, as discreetly as she could.
 Nevertheless, a lifeguard quickly rushed over and told her that she
would *have* to get out of the pool to nurse, preferably in the restroom,
insinuating that other adults and children would otherwise be offended,
and that her milk might contaminate the water.  The mom was indignant and
left the pool to seek out the pool manager, who backed the lifeguard. Mom
then mentioned the new legislation here in California protecting her
right to breastfeed in public, but they were adamant. The mom chose to
leave at that point, and her money was refunded.

Later that day, the mother called La Leche League to find out what she
could do about what happened to her. Mom was somewhat surprised by this
incident, as she had uneventfully breastfed in a similar fashion at two
other local pools. Why was it suddenly a problem?

She and the leader discussed what mom wanted to accomplish, and what her
options were to those ends. Mom then did the following: First, she wrote
and faxed a letter to the office of the Parks and Recreation supervisor,
enumerating the benefits of breastfeeding, and including a newspaper
clipping of the new law. She also posted her pool experience to an
attachment parenting listserv, and some of those people reposted her
experience to other sites such as Parent-L and misc.kids.bfg.  As a
result, within 24 hrs the supervisor's office was flooded with almost 200
faxes of protest.  He went home and discussed the matter with his wife,
who also breastfed their children, and she supported the mom.  He also
consulted city attorneys about the new law, and as a result the following
took place:

-Verbal apology to mom by phone, with promise of written apology
-Verbal thanks to mom for informative, non-hysterical letter
-Breastfeeding policy at pool to be rewritten immediately
-All lifeguards to be inserviced regarding new breastfeeding friendly
policy
-Breastfeeding friendliness message to be worked into next public pool
function
-Mom received 20 free pool passes

Sometimes the good gals do win!