A Maryland casino booted a mother from its lobby because she was breastfeeding her newborn girl, the Delmarva Daily Times has learned.
Alanna Panas, of Pennsylvania, was in the Casino at Ocean Downs lobby with her hungry 7-week-old daughter when she texted her boyfriend to bring the car keys so she could feed baby Lilly in the parking lot.
While waiting for her boyfriend to come from the Casino floor, Panas thought it would be best to calm her crying child by feeding her in the lobby. But as soon as she began breastfeeding, Casino security swooped in and said she would have to leave.
"They told me that Lilly was a security threat," an outraged Panas told the Daily Times of the Jan. 3 incident.
According to Maryland casino laws, visitors under the age of 21 are not permitted on the gaming floor. Panas said she is aware of the law, but that she was in the lobby and not on the casino floor.
"My baby and I did nothing wrong," Panas told the newspaper. "I just want a sincere apology for the way we were treated."
Panas later expressed her disappointment in a Facebook post that has gone viral and captured the attention of news outlets and breastfeeding support groups. It's not unheard of for businesses to ask women to leave for breastfeeding in public, which mothers and advocates say is against the law.
"The law protects mothers who choose to breastfeed in public," Stephanie Amsler, head of Berlin's chapter of the breastfeeding support group La Leche, told the newspaper. "That choice to breastfeed in a restaurant, store, park, mall or any other public place is up to the mother and her baby."
It appears Maryland's state law was on Panas' side. The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's website says breastfeeding is allowed "in any public or private location in which the mother and child are authorized to be."
The Ocean Downs business did not give the Daily Times a comment about the alleged incident. But a post on the casino's Facebook page read: "Casino at Ocean Downs strives to make our guests' experiences enjoyable, and if any member of our team acted in a manner that did not promote that experience, we apologize."
The casino said it would reach out to Panas. The mother told the newspaper they called, but "they just basically said it was Lilly and my fault."
