- This month, a Georgia mother visited Rigby's Water World in Warner Robins, Georgia.
- She said staff told her to stop breastfeeding her 11-month-old son in a now-viral Facebook post.
A Georgia water park changed its breastfeeding policy after a mom said she was barred from nursing her son in a lazy pool earlier this month.
Tiffany Francis shared the incident at Rigby's Water World, in Warner Robins, in a now-viral Facebook post on July 14.
As of Wednesday, her post has garnered over 1,100 comments and reactions.
Francis said she thought staffers were joking when they told her to stop breastfeeding
Francis told Insider her family visited the water park on July 14, and at one point, she began to nurse her son to sleep in the lazy river because motion helps him sleep. However, she said she was approached by a lifeguard who told her she wasn't allowed to nurse in the pool.
Francis added that she was shocked because she's breastfed her son in the lazy river several times as a seasonal ticket holder.
"A lifeguard was sitting up in a little chair and said, "Ma'am, you can't do that,'" Francis said. "I looked around and was like, 'Is he joking?'"
After being confronted by two lifeguards, Francis told Insider she asked if there were specific rules stating she couldn't breastfeed in the lazy river.
"I knew they had a huge placard of rules at the front door, and so she [one of the lifeguards] said, "Yeah, the rules are up front." I got out immediately and went up there to look, and there was nothing about that," Francis said.
Francis told Insider she eventually spoke to the general manager, who reportedly said she was barred from breastfeeding "as a courtesy for others." In her Facebook post, Francis wrote the general manager suggested it was because no food or drinks were allowed in the water.
"I told him it was illegal, and I guess he didn't realize or didn't think about it at the time," she said.
According to the state's law, breastfeeding "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," per Georgia's Breastfeeding Coalition.
At that point, Francis said she asked for a refund on her season tickets, which, according to her, Rigby's Water World denied. She told Insider she left the water park feeling "completely humiliated."
"I was literally shaking walking out of there, just trying to get out as fast as I could," she added.
The same day, Francis said she wrote about her online experience as a cautionary tale for other mothers who plan to visit the water park.
In her Facebook post, Francis wrote that most people wore "very little clothing" at the water park that day, "but my son and I were offensive."
A Rigby's Water World representative told Insider they never intended to embarrass Francis
People's Angela Andaloro reported Monday that after Francis' Facebook went viral, a Rigby family member responded to Francis' Facebook post and acknowledged that breastfeeding was important, but "an exposed breast in a water feature without a covering could be seen as indecent (we wouldn't let another guest do the same)."
The family member added that family rooms, shaded seats, and an admin building at the water park could be used as alternatives, according to the outlet.
On Tuesday, a representative for Rigby's Water World confirmed to Insider that its policy is now updated and allows mothers to breastfeed anywhere in the water park. They added they had no intention of embarrassing Francis, and the staff is now educated on the revised policy.
However, Francis told Insider the apology doesn't move her.
"I don't feel a sincere apology at all, but they said, 'Oh, well, we've said sorry,'" Francis said. "And they've changed their unwritten policy to say you can now do something that was already legal."
Francis also acknowledged that she'd received an outpouring of support from people but also faced a stream of hate.
"I told one person yesterday, I was like, 'If you're going to say something to a breastfeeding mom, make it positive, because that's something it's going to stick with them forever,'" she said. "It sticks with you because it's a very sensitive topic."
Francis said more than anything; she's shocked mothers were still navigating public breastfeeding in 2023.
"It's crazy that this is even still happening to people in this day and age," she said.