Mom says she was harassed for breastfeeding publicly at YMCA
A woman said she was harassed by employees at a Colorado Springs YMCA for breastfeeding her child in public.
Stevie Hartmann-Romero said her 18-month-old child was fussing at the pool and she knew he needed to be nursed.
“I went to a bench further down the way where no one really was and I started to breast feed him and about 10 minutes passed by and a life guard approached me,” said Hartmann-Romero.
She said an employee approached her and asked her to cover up or go into the locker room. Hartmann-Romero said she would not leave, telling the life guard she had a right to nurse her child where she was sitting.
Next, Hartmann-Romero said the employee’s supervisor came up and again asked her to cover up or move to a locker room.
“She would not leave me alone. She continued to ask me to cover up and think about my surroundings and everything,” said Hartmann-Romero.
According to Colorado law, a woman has a right to breastfeed her child wherever she has a right to be. Hartmann-Romero said she chose to stand her ground in hopes that it would help employees better understand a nursing mother’s rights.
“Breast feeding mothers have rights and they are dealing with a lot. Even a small comment to cover up is a big deal. It’s very personal,” said Hartmann-Romero.
The Vice President of Marketing & Development for the YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region, Carrie Bair-Norwood, said this incident has been a learning opportunity to staff.
“This is the first time we have experienced a mother that choice not to cover up and so our staff were unclear on how to handle the situation,” said Bair-Norwood.
Bair-Norwood said it’s shed light on the fact that employees were not well-versed in the rights of breastfeeding mothers and now the staff has been brought up to speed.
“We hope our staff will learn from this. We have learned organizationally from this,” said Bair-Norwood.
Hartmann-Romero said since the incident, the YMCA has done an excellent job in communicating with her and the employees.
She said people need to be more expecting of mothers breastfeeding.
“I just think that people get weirded out like, ‘Oh my gosh it’s out there. What if the baby moves and I see something?’ I think it’s this mindset that freaks people out. It shouldn’t be. Nursing babies cover up a lot more than swimsuits do,” said Hartmann-Romero.
She is glad to see the situation has lead to positive change.
