A mother in Georgia was shocked when a water park employee told her she could not breastfeed her baby in the lazy river. Tiffany Francis was with her two children, 11-month-old Landon and 4-year-old Olivia, at Rigby's Water World in Warner Robins for an afternoon of fun. She and her children had been to the water park before and Francis had breastfed Landon in the lazy river without issue. But that changed on July 14, when she was allegedly told to stop.
Francis took to Facebook to blast the water park for making an issue out of what she called "the most natural thing." Francis was appalled by the actions of Rigby's employees and claimed that the park is violating Georgia law. The issue garnered a lot of attention and anger from breastfeeding supporters.
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Francis claims she had breastfed plenty of times at Rigby's and never had an issue.
The appalled mother of two said she has been a breastfeeding mom for years and had never had a negative experience in public. That was until she got into the lazy river with Landon to help calm him down to nurse before his nap. Francis said that Landon always sleeps while he is nursing, and she and her baby had followed the same routine in the lazy river before, but this time, a lifeguard she called Caleb told her to stop. She laughed, thinking he was joking, "in very poor taste," but soon realized he was not.
"Then he got on the radio and had a lady come and tell me I wasn't allowed. I was trying to pull the baby off but when baby is latched, he's latched. I asked her if it was posted somewhere and she told me that it was posted in the rules out front so I got out of the lazy river, and I went to read the rules," she wrote.
The park manager allegedly told Francis that she needed to extend 'courtesy' to other park visitors.
Francis said she looked for a posting that said she wasn't allowed to breastfeed but couldn't find one. She then sought out a manager, Steve Brown, who she said told her that not breastfeeding publicly is a courtesy to other guests, which upset her.
"I asked it's just a made up rule, because it's not posted anywhere? It's just something that they decided to say was a rule. So then he smartly said well it says no food or drinks in the water. I asked so my boobs aren't allowed in the water?" she wrote.
She requested a refund for her season pass, which she claimed the water park denied. Brown confirmed to Today that Rigby's would not issue a refund because no one asked Francis to leave. She left on her own. She told the outlet she has no plans to return.
"I don't know what they expected — for me to lay down while they broke the law?" she said. "Especially for something that moms are shamed for all the time."
Francis contends Rigby's broke the law.
At the end of her Facebook post, Francis cited Georgia law. "Ga. Code An. § 31-1-9 The breastfeeding of a baby is an important and basic act of nurture which should be encouraged in the interests of maternal and child health. A mother may breastfeed her baby in any location where the mother and baby are otherwise authorized to be," the law states.
This got the attention of management at Rigby's.
Brown said the policy at the park was revised.
The manager told Today that due to the incident, Rigby's revised its policy regarding breastfeeding in the water within hours of the incident.
"We had a policy in place that didn't allow breastfeeding in the river that was in line with the health department's standard on no eating or drinking in the pools," he explained.
Brown said that after reviewing Georgia law, he realized that the park needed to accommodate all nursing mothers wherever they wanted to feed their babies.
"We were under the impression it was a health code violation," he says. "It was a misunderstanding … it was my mistake to misinterpret the law …. there are different opinions on this issue but we want to comply with the law."
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Francis gained a lot of support in her stance against Rigby's.
Her Facebook post had more than 1,000 comments, mostly cheering Francis on.
"I freaking wish, you showed way more grace and self control than I would have, I would have made them escort me out," a supporter wrote. "They would have known I was NOT playing their game."
"Wow as a father this is unbelievable wrong," a dad commented. "Anyone should be able to feed there kid anywhere without a problem."
"We're not friends, but I'll be your biggest advocate!" a mom told Francis. "I nursed our 5 and 3 year old until Feb of this year. I fed my now 5 yr old at Rigbys in the kiddie area when he was about 1 years old. I'll call tomorrow to complain to the manager for sure."
