Breastfeeding Family Friendly swimming pools are friendly, accepting and supportive of breastfeeding families. In the US, laws permitting a person to breastfeed in a public place are applicable to swimming pools. These include pools associated with government, fitness facilities, residential/gated communities, and hotel/motel. As in other places, parents are not required to move, cover up, be more discreet, or to stop breastfeeding. Human milk is no more ‘contaminating’ to pool water than other bodily fluids, and there is no health concern for an infant being breastfed in pool water. Chest/Breastfeeding families do not need to leave the pool deck while feeding, as there is limited capacity for human milk to contaminate pool water in the same way as other liquids or solid foods.
Pool managers are encouraged to enact breastfeeding friendly policies that include:
- Posting signage welcoming chest/breastfeeding families
- Teaching all your employees about pertinent breastfeeding laws, including how to support a human milk feeding family at the pool.
- Letting staff know that they must not ask someone who is breastfeeding to move, cover up, be more discreet, or stop feeding for any reason.
- Preparing staff with instructions on how to respond, if complaints arise, so that information is provided quickly and accurately.
- Staff have the opportunity to share information about the law with the person who is voicing the complaint.
- Staff also can ask for assistance from the manager, particularly if the staff member is uncomfortable or the complaint worsens.
Your local team may also wish to reach out to local and state health department staff involved with regulating and educating about swimming pool use, to ask them to update their own policies/regulations to add the above. This will create a more consistent environment across all facilities.
Helpful Resources:
CDC Breastfeeding in Pools & Hot Tubs/Spas
Colorado Breastfeeding Coalition Breastfeeding at Swimming Pools