Unanderra mum Jacqueline Estraube told the Mercury she was taken aback when asked to move and told it was ‘‘inappropriate’’ to breastfeed 15-month-old Isabella on the pool steps.

Mrs Estraube said she was breastfeeding Isabella last Friday afternoon, when a young female lifeguard asked her to ‘‘please refrain from doing that in the pool’’.

When her husband, Jaime, asked the lifeguard what she meant, he said he was told breastfeeding was considered to be eating and was not allowed.

When Mr Estraube questioned the rules further, the pool manager was called over.

‘‘I said we were not moving from there, because my wife’s not in the pool – she’s on the side of the pool – and she’s covered up and my baby is not eating and leaving crumbs everywhere, she’s breastfeeding,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s not like she was in the middle of the pool with her breast sticking out with the baby feeding, she was covered up.’’

Mr Estraube said he was ‘‘shocked’’ by the manager’s attitude.

‘‘The manager spoke to us and asked us to find an appropriate place to keep [breastfeeding],’’ he said.

‘‘I said ‘where do you suggest she goes? Into the cubicles?’

‘‘He just said it was inappropriate.’’

Mrs Estraube then left the pool and moved to the babies’ area as she felt embarrassed by the attention on her and her daughter.

‘‘I felt like I was doing something wrong and it’s such a blessing to have that bond with your baby, you shouldn’t be made to feel like that,’’ she said.

‘‘I could understand if I was in the water, but I was sitting on the first step and only my feet were getting wet.’’

The mother of seven has breastfed all her children and believes women should be free to feed their babies when in public without a problem.

Mr Estraube said the couple had taken their children to Port Kembla Pool for years, and was disappointed last Friday’s experience had spoiled a much-loved family activity.

‘‘It’s such a shame but, for the rest of the day, we felt so uncomfortable,’’ he said.

‘‘It felt like every time [they] walked past us, there were eyes on us.’’

On Wednesday, Wollongong City Council communications manager Susan Wardle said the lifeguard’s issue with Mrs Estraube had been ‘‘about safety and not breastfeeding’’.

She said last week’s warm weather meant more than 2700 people visited Port Kembla Pool on Friday, which had kept lifeguards busy with safety concerns.

‘‘It wouldn’t matter what someone was doing on those steps at a busy time of day, they would be asked to move,’’ she said, adding that council general manager David Farmer also supported this stance.

‘‘The communication [to Mrs Estraube] may have come across poorly ... but our staff were just trying to maintain safe access to the pool and when you have staff dealing with 2700-odd people, they have to make spot calls.’’

Despite the assurance breastfeeding was not an issue at the pool, the council’s recreation manager Mark Bond told the Mercury he wouldn’t ‘‘advocate breastfeeding in the pool’’.

‘‘There’s always a risk on contamination in a public swimming pool, because of water splashing into the baby’s mouth while breastfeeding,’’ he said.

He said staff have to maintain the health and safety of the patrons.

However, Ms Wardle said mothers were encouraged to use their own discretion about where they chose to breastfeed.

According to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, breastfeeding discrimination is against the law when accessing ‘‘most types of goods or services’’, including shops, banks, government departments, the police, public transport, local councils, doctors, medical services and sporting venues.