A breastfeeding boss has been barred from a business course run by online retailer Amazon because it would not let her child on to the site.<\/p>\n
Rachel Bews said she had let Amazon know a week ahead of the in-person event at an Amazon warehouse in Dunfermline, Scotland, that she would need to take her 20-week-old baby with her as she was breastfeeding. <\/p>\n
However, she said she was told over the phone on the train to the event that children under six were not allowed on site.<\/p>\n
Amazon said: “We sincerely apologise to Ms Bews that our site access policy was not communicated clearly before she travelled.”<\/p>\n
“That should not have happened, and we understand her frustration. Amazon does not permit children under the age of six on any of our fulfilment centre sites,” the retailer added. <\/p>\n
“This is a long-standing health and safety policy that applies to all visitors and employees… We are reviewing our communications process to prevent this from happening again.”<\/p>\n
Bews told the BBC’s The World Tonight that there was a lactation room at the event on Friday, which would have allowed her to express milk for her child.<\/p>\n
But she said she had not planned for this, so did not have any sterilised bottles or equipment for expressing. She added that not every breastfed baby would feed from a bottle.<\/p>\n
“All events should really have good consideration to accessibility and inclusivity for all sorts of considerations,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It’s a challenging thing becoming a new mum, and being in business is a big part of my identity, so having access to these same opportunities is really important for me and a lot of other working and professional mums out there.”<\/p>\n
She said she had been told she could continue with the online part of the six-week course, but she said she had missed out on “the most important things”.<\/p>\n
“The in-person, face-to-face connections you make over coffee, the people you meet over lunch \u2013 there’s connections I could have made to maybe help my business,” she added.<\/p>\n