Mom 'Humiliated' at Water Park After Being Told to Stop Nursing Baby Because of 'Unwritten Rule' (Exclusive)

Tiffany Francis was laying with her 11-month-old in the lazy river when she was told to cover up as a "courtesy for other guests"

A Georgia mom is still recovering from a humiliating ordeal on what was supposed to be a fun family day out.

Tiffany Francis was enjoying a day out with family and friends at Rigby’s Water World in Georgia when she decided to take her 11-month-old son to the lazy river.

The sleepy infant was hungry and she began to nurse him as they floated around, only to be told to stop by a lifeguard who told her, "Ma'am, you can't breastfeed in the lazy river."

"I thought the guy was joking," Francis tells PEOPLE of the situation. "Then someone else came up to me and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is for real.'"

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Francis says that in four years as a breastfeeding mom, she'd never had such a situation occur. She checked signage and inquired with other employees and managers about their politics. It was then that Francis was told it was for "other guest's courtesy," but when she asked about guest complaints, she wasn't told of any.

One manager also cited the rule that says "no food or drinks in the water," at which point Francis asked for her family's season passes to be refunded.

"I just really didn't think anybody would care. You're at a water park. People are already pretty naked there, right? I don't think it was the most offensive thing to happen that day," she says, noting that since her viral Facebook post about the incident, other moms have come forward sharing similar explanations.

"I never intended to take it publicly but when I spoke to multiple people at the water park and not a soul would sway from, 'No, you can't do that,' I decided to tell people on Facebook, just to warn other moms really, as an FYI that if you're going to do that, you're going to be humiliated."

A few attendees also came forward to say they witnessed her incident at Rigby's unfolding, one which was not only embarrassing and inconvenient but illegal per Georgia's own laws, which state that nursing 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."

"As a mom, it's just crazy that people think it's not okay to feed your own child. If it's a bottle, it's fine. Feeding them table foods, sure. But feeding them from the breast just grosses people out for some reason. It's been sexualized to the point where it's not a natural thing, and that's just gross to meal," adds Francis.

A member of the Rigby family responded to the Facebook post, writing in part, "I know that breastfeeding is allowed in the park and I can understand the safety issues that come in hand with feeding in moving water. As for the courtesy of other guests, I agree that a mom should be able to breastfeed at any time, however an exposed breast in a water feature without a covering could be seen as indecent (we wouldn’t let another guest do the same)," she wrote.

"We have shaded seating, family rooms, and have an admin building that can be used for just that."

In a later comment, a manager stated that the policy has since been updated to include allowing breastfeeding moms to feed in pools on the grounds.

"It shouldn't have happened in the first place," Francis replied. "They have a huge rule list posted, so I don't think they should have 'unwritten rules.' That feels like, 'Oh well, we made this up on the spot,' or 'This is just how I feel about things.' And it was an illegal policy to have, so that was the issue for me."

Francis admits she's gotten hate online as the incident has unfolded. "People say I'm doing it for the views. Why on Earth would I think to do that? I was trying to enjoy a day with my family and it turned into a really awful experience that I'm still blown away happened at all."

PEOPLE also spoke with manager Steve Brown, who explains that the incident with Francis was a "misinterpretation of policy."

"When we decided to create this policy that we didn't allow women to breastfeed in the pools, it was strictly for the pools," he tells PEOPLE. "We have always welcomed it on the pool deck, but we have asked folks not to breastfeed in pools for a number of reasons."

"Mrs. Francis wanted to use the pool so the motion of the river could help her child fall asleep. And she asked for a refund for her season pass, which we do not do refunds on per our policy."

Brown clarified that he never asked Francis to leave the park and didn't know she had until seeing her Facebook post, which included a link to the state's laws about breastfeeding.

"I looked up the law and saw that mothers have the right to breastfeed anywhere they are reasonably allowed to be with their child. So I reached out to professionals in the aquatics field and to the local health department, which didn't have a policy set aside from no food or drink in the pools."

"After consulting with more professionals in the industry, we made the decision to change our policy and did so as of that evening, which I responded to on the post. We admit we were wrong. We made a mistake and have apologized to Mrs. Francis both publicly and privately."

Brown notes, "Mothers are allowed to breastfeed in the pools now. Saturday morning, I sent out a memo to all staff and spoke to staff directly to retrain them on how they should handle any situation with a breastfeeding mom in the pools."

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Read the original article on People.