A mother said she was left outraged after she was asked to get out of a swimming pool because she was breastfeeding in the water.

Natalie Forester, 30, said she walked further into the pool to feed 18-month-old Josiah away from the other parents.

But then one of the swimming instructors told her she had to get out of the water because of the food and drink policy at Dimensions Leisure Centre, in Stoke-on-Trent.

Natalie Forester has been left outraged after pool staff told her to exit the pool to breastfeed her son (Picture: James Ward/Caters News)

The two were taking part in a closed baby swimming lesson (Picture: James Ward/Caters News)

She described it as being an outdated policy that goes against the Equality Act of 2010.


She said: ‘I have breastfed all my three children and all of them have used the centre for swimming lessons over the years.

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‘I know all the staff as I go so often, so I was completely baffled when I was approached and asked to exit the water, I’ve been breastfeeding for the last eight years and never had any comment made to me before.



‘Josiah is a real water baby but on this particular day he really wasn’t happy and didn’t want to join in, I could tell that he was probably hungry and so discreetly took myself away from the group so no one could see.

‘When the instructor asked me to leave the water I was so shocked I just did as I was told. I could feel Josiah was getting cold sat on the edge but by the time we had finished the lesson was over.

Natalie claims that the policy is at odds with the Equality Act of 2010 (Picture: Caters News)

‘It takes around three minutes for him to feed and he would have been fine.’

When she left she asked to see a copy of the centre’s breastfeeding policy which states that they encourage poolside breast-feeding, but discourage it in the water ‘to avoid the risk of the child regurgitating or vomiting in the pool.’

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However, she said: ‘The policy is outdated. No matter what age you are, the water has a calming effect and babies thrive on being fed in the water.

‘If they are worried about cross contamination, breast milk is sterile, and swimming pools are full of more harmful bodily fluids that I would not like to mention.

‘They told me that it is to stop babies being sick in the water and so I responded by saying that they should not have a cafe alongside the pool.

Natalie with her three children outside the swimming pool in Stoke-on-Trent (Picture: Caters)

‘When breastfeeding, babies could need feeding at any time, so to encourage breastfeeding and they not allow that to happen means the policy makes no sense.

‘If that had happened to a first-time mum if could have completely ruined their confidence. I could tell the instructor felt uncomfortable telling me but she was just following the policy.

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‘I have received a lot of negative comments since sharing my experience but it just shows how uneducated people are on the subject.’

Councillor Anthony Munday said: ‘We have many areas at our poolside where breastfeeding can take place and actively promote and support this, although we do ask that breastfeeding doesn’t happen in the pool.

‘We take on board the feedback from mums and will do more to work with them to understand their views and consider if this is something that needs to change for the future.



‘We are sorry if this has caused any distress to any of our pool users.’

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