Nova Scotia mother told to stop breastfeeding baby at pool on military base

A nursing mother says she was left feeling embarrassed and overwhelmed after being told she wasn't allowed to breastfeed her baby in or on the deck of a pool at a Nova Scotia military base.

The 14 Wing Greenwood Aquatics PSP in Greenwood, N.S., has since publicly apologized for what happened to Kelsey Hutchinson, vowing to change its policies to allow breastfeeding at the outdoor pool and anywhere on the base.

Hutchinson, 30, said she was with her husband and three children — ages six months, three and four — last Wednesday when baby Violet became hungry.

"So I stood up in the water and was nursing her. And then at that point we saw the lifeguard go talk to another lifeguard, come back and he said, 'You can't do that here,'" Hutchinson told CBC News in an interview.

Hutchinson said she was taken aback, but agreed to get out of the pool and started to nurse her baby on the deck, so she could be near her family.

The lifeguard then told her she wasn't allowed to nurse there either, and would have to go to the washroom or leave the property.

In Canada, breastfeeding mothers have the right to nurse their babies in public, something Hutchinson and her husband tried to explain to the lifeguard.

"When it was clear that there wasn't going to be a resolution, I told him he was welcome to get a manager. And so at that point, the manager came over and started the conversation with, 'I heard you have problems with my staff,'" said Hutchinson.

She said the manager asked if she would be willing to breastfeed over by a fence and she said no. She was then told by the manager that she was being rude and hostile, Hutchinson said.

"I'm not being rude. I'm just simply saying I have to feed my baby and I'm going to feed my baby," said Hutchinson, adding that the conversation was drawing attention from other swimmers and she felt embarrassed and overwhelmed, but also protective of her right to breastfeed.

"It's an interesting thing when women stand up for their rights and are referred to as rude and hostile when that wasn't the case."

Hutchinson said she eventually asked the manager if she was being told to leave. The manager said she was not, and the conversation ended there. Tearful and upset, her family decided to leave anyway.

The next morning, the mother posted her story to Facebook, where it was widely shared.

Later that day, 14 Wing Greenwood PSP made its own Facebook post apologizing for what happened, saying it recognizes the "dignity and respect" of all people, and seeks to foster an inclusive environment.