Austin mom says Schlitterbahn employee told her to stop breastfeeding at waterpark
AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) -- A mother from Austin says she was told to stop breastfeeding while she was at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in New Braunfels.
The incident happened on June 2.
Aimee Loesch said she wanted to feed her 1-year-old daughter, Evelyn, one last time before they headed home.
That's when she says a waterpark employee stopped her.
"We were stopped by a gentleman working at the gate at Schlitterbahn and he just said to me, 'I'm sorry ma'am, you can't do that here,'" Loesch said.
She said she quickly realized the employee was talking about her breastfeeding.
"'What am I doing wrong?' He said, 'You can't do that. This is a family environment,'" Loesch explained.
The spokesperson for Schlitterbahn, Winter Prosapio, said they were appalled when they found out what happened.
"It's very unfortunate. We're very unhappy that this happened in the first place, but we want to make it very clear: if you're a mom and you're breastfeeding, you can do that at Schlitterbahn. Period. End of story," Prosapio said.
Prosapio added the company talked to the male staffer, and Schlitterbahn has a message for Loesch.
"I want that mom to know it is not okay what happened to her. We have addressed it, and we have done everything we can so that kind of thing doesn't happen to a single other mom," Prosapio said.
Loesch said she wants everyone to realize breastfeeding is normal and legal.
Texas law states that a mother can breastfeed in whatever public space she's allowed to be in.
"Breastfeeding is normal. It's absolutely normal. Women's bodies have been sexualized and it's not. It's actually a really beautiful thing," Loesch said.
Prosapio said the company is discussing if retraining for all Schlitterbahn employees is necessary.
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