No Running, No Diving, No Breastfeeding!

No food or water allowed in the pool area and exceptions cannot be made at the YMCA in Ann Arbor Michigan.

Kelly Fuks was asked to stop breastfeeding her baby in public at her local YMCA. The YMCA knows it doesn't want women breastfeeding by the pool but it can't decide quite why. Maybe it is because of the breasts or maybe it is because of the no food or liquid rule.

Kelly Fuks took her 6 month old daughter, Ansley (a paid member of the YMCA) and her 3 year old son, Maxwell to the swimming area of the YMCA in Ann Arbor. A lifeguard approached her and told her she could not breastfeed by the pool.

At first, it seemed that the feeding was the problem. Fuks was asked to stop feeding her infant because food and beverages are not allowed near the pool.

The food and beverage rule is sensible enough; you don't want someone slipping in a puddle of pop, or for some kid to drop candy or chips into the deep end of the pool. Breastfeeding isn't quite like sneaking in a snack from the vending machine. Kelly wasn't in danger of accidentally spilling her breast milk on the floor or leaving a candy wrapper under her chair.

If the rule prohibits Kelly from feeding her daughter by the pool wouldn't it also prohibit her from being near the pool at all? After all she's still bring milk in to the pool area just by walking in to the room.

As it turned out, the "food and beverage" justification was just the YMCA's belated smoke screen for the real reason it didn't want Kelly to breastfeed. It seem that the lifeguards couldn't deal with her boobies. Kelly said she was told she couldn't breastfeed near the pool because the practice was, "a distraction to the life guards."

"I think they have a bad policy and place a burden on people with small children," Fuks said. Michigan exempts breastfeeding from its public nudity statue, but it does not protect a woman's right to breastfed in public places. The YMCA does allow breastfeeding in other areas where parents and children are permitted to be together, including the locker rooms and lobby.

Come on people! Breasts displayed for sex appeal are fine! But the breast used to feed a hungry child? Put that away, lady; you'll frighten the lifeguards.