Mom Is Shamed for Breastfeeding in Public Pool until Male Voice Addresses Her over Loud Speaker — Story of the Day

A mom of two was shamed for breastfeeding her 9-month-old daughter at a public pool, causing her to stress out and run out of milk. After a few minutes, a man on the loudspeaker addresses her, and her faith in humanity is restored.

Molly was a housewife raising two children – she had a 7-year-old son named Peter and a 9-month-old daughter named Ellie.

Every weekday afternoon, Molly's husband, James, would be in charge of taking Peter to his swimming classes at the public pool. That week, however, he was on a business trip, and it was up to Molly to take him.

It was a lovely Monday out, with the sun's warmth bearable enough to swim. Pleasant, child-friendly music was blasting from the speakers, ready to welcome the kids into the pool.

Peter was already with his classmates when Molly decided to lay on a beach chair with her youngest in her stroller. She had just put sunblock on herself and her little one when she started crying.

"Are you hungry, Ellie?" she asked her daughter. "Don't worry. Mama will feed you before we go take a swim."

Molly lifted her daughter out of the stroller and started to breastfeed her. It was not a controversial sight, as she covered herself with a thin muslin swaddle.

However, this wasn't enough for some of the women who were swimming nearby. They were disgusted that Molly could even think of breastfeeding her daughter in public, and criticized her for "exposing herself."

"What an attention seeker!" one of the women said loudly.

"She probably doesn't get enough attention from her husband that she had to go all the way here just to breastfeed her child," another accused.

Molly felt her stomach twist as soon as she heard these words. Not only was she hurt, but she was bothered that women were maligning her down for something so natural as feeding her child.

Before Molly knew it, more people started to notice her. Many voiced their opinions about breastfeeding in public, while there were also some who showed their support.

"Don't listen to them, honey. Do what you need to do for your child," an older woman said as she passed by. Molly flashed her an appreciative smile, but the truth was, she was about to burst in tears any minute.

Meanwhile, Ellie appeared to be struggling. She pulled away from her mother and started to cry some more. Molly put away her muslin swaddle and started to sway her daughter back and forth to stop her from crying. She tried to feed her baby again, but she realized she had run out of breastmilk due to the stress she was under.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Mommy will recover from this, and you'll get to drink milk as much as you can at home, okay?" she cried.

After what seemed to be the longest ten minutes of Molly's life, somebody cut the music and spoke on the loudspeaker.

"To the mom breastfeeding her child by the pool," the man started to say. Molly closed her eyes as soon as she heard this, and she took a deep breath. She was preparing for the worst, and thought she was about to be publicly ridiculed yet again.

"This is Officer Smith from the LAPD," the man introduced himself over the loudspeaker. "I'm here to let you know that you are a wonderful mother and doing a great job. The law is on your side. Don't be afraid of breastfeeding your daughter in public – it's legal in all US states," he clarified.

Molly breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but cry. She looked over at Peter, who was proudly telling his classmates that the person the "cool police officer" was talking about was his mom.

Before Peter could say some more, the officer began to speak again. "To those who don't like that this loving and responsible mom is feeding her child, I have one piece of advice for you: don't look!"

As soon as those at the pool heard this, gasps and giggles were heard from those who initially supported Molly. Meanwhile, those who ridiculed her and judged her out loud turned beet red, and they slowly waded away to the other side of the pool where Molly couldn't see them.

"Thank you," Molly mouthed at the control tower where the officer was speaking from.

After some time, Officer Smith went down to the pool to introduce himself to Molly. He wanted to check on her personally, and let her know that there was no reason to feel bad about what other people think.

He revealed that a group of women called him to the pool, complaining about a mother breastfeeding in public. "I decided to give those women a lesson on respect," he told Molly.

Molly thanked the officer once again, explaining that she was at the pool because her husband couldn't take Peter to his swim lessons. "I was so stressed out with what I was hearing from these strangers that I ran out of milk. I'm certain Ellie's going to start crying any minute again now," she sighed.

Upon hearing this, Officer Smith jumped into action. "Don't worry, ma'am. I'll get you some formula milk so you have a bottle ready before you go home," he assured her.

The following day, the town heard about what happened at the neighborhood pool. To show support to Molly and to other breastfeeding mothers, dozens of moms showed up at the pool to breastfeed their babies.

The same people who ridiculed Molly the day prior were there, and they were embarrassed at the sight of so many women trying to teach them a lesson.

"We women should stand up for each other, not bring each other down!" a mother yelled at the group of judgmental women before they left the public pool.

What can we learn from this story?

• Treat others the way you want to be treated. Molly was minding her own business at the pool when other women started paying attention to her. In the end, those who judged her learned their lesson after the police they called to reprimand Molly sided with the breastfeeding mom.
• There is nothing wrong with feeding your child in public. You are not doing anything illegal when you breastfeed your child in public. While it may make some people uncomfortable, that's on them, not you. The same way you mind your own business, they should, too.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a wife who asked her husband to take her out on a date, only to find out that he was ashamed of her and how she looked.

This story is inspired by the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.