New breastfeeding policy for Regina public swimming pools after mother asked to leave

The City of Regina is introducing a new policy regarding breastfeeding at public swimming pools.

The policy states that women will now be allowed to breastfeed while in the swimming pool with their infant.

In the previous policy, women were allowed to breastfeed in the pool area but not in the pool. 

The policy change stems from an incident earlier this month when a woman was asked to leave the pool area while breastfeeding at the Sandra Schmirler Leisure Centre in Regina. Shortly after the incident, the City of Regina announced a change to the breastfeeding policy at public pools. 

Martha Neovard, a breastfeeding educator at Family First Doulas, said it's a welcome change for mothers who are breastfeeding and want to take their children swimming. 

"It makes breastfeeding not an inconvenience at the pool anymore," said Neovard. "They will be within arm's reach [of their children] and still be able to feed their infant."

Neovard said the change is a step in right direction towards removing the stigma around public breastfeeding by giving mothers more freedom to openly breastfeed.

"I work with hundreds of women across the city as they face the challenges, the unique challenges, of breastfeeding and this is a winning point for them," said Neovard. 

"When they get out and they can feed in public and they can feed their babies on demand, that's a big deal."

Neovard said there are no hygienic concerns because breast milk is both antimicrobial and water soluble.

Statement from city

In a statement about the new policy, the city said,

"In the case of aquatics, our practice has been to ask patrons to not breastfeed while mom and baby are in the pool and to advise patrons that they are free to breastfeed while on the pool deck or anywhere else in the facility"

"Recently, we did not do a good job in communicating our practice to one of our patrons resulting in a negative experience for our customer."

"In an effort to learn from this experience, we have consulted with other municipalities and researched current thinking regarding breastfeeding while in the water at a public pool. As a result, we are modifying our current practice and we will no longer request that our patrons refrain from breastfeeding while in the water at one of our aquatic facilities."

The statement also said, "breastfeeding is an acceptable practice at all City of Regina facilities and we inform patrons who object to breastfeeding that allowing this practice in our facilities is in alignment with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."

The policy will take effect on Friday.