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Edinburgh mother of three Rachael Bews is petitioning the British Parliament for a legal right to paid breastfeeding and express breaks at work, alongside suitable workplace facilities.
A mum-of-three is calling for a change in the law to ensure breastfeeding parents get paid time off to feed their baby or express milk.
Rachael Bews has launched a petition calling on the UK government to introduce a legal right to paid breastfeeding and expression breaks, alongside adequate workplace facilities. She argues that without this right, some mothers are forced to choose between breastfeeding and earning a living.
The entrepreneur launched her Don’t Make Me Choose campaign after she was barred from attending a professional development program because she was unable to bring her five-month-old daughter, who she was nursing at the time.
Ms Bews, from Edinburgh, insisted her campaign was “not about asking for special treatment”. Rather, she said, “It’s about removing a practical barrier to health, equality and participation at work.”
Their petition, which was submitted to the UK Parliament, stressed that “breastfeeding parents in the UK have no legal right to paid breastfeeding or express breaks at work”.
This, it says, “forces many to choose between feeding their baby and fully participating in work”.
If more than 10,000 people sign it, the government is obliged to respond, while a number of more than 100,000 signatures would discuss the issue in the chamber. Ms Bews, the founder of the Nu Coton Marketing Agency, insisted: “No woman should have to choose between breastfeeding and making a living. But that is the choice our current system creates.”
She continued: “I started this campaign after I was prevented from attending a professional event because I needed to deliver my baby.
“Since speaking publicly, I have heard from women who have expressed milk in toilets earlier than they wanted, lost income, declined opportunities or left work altogether.”
She added: “The government encourages women to breastfeed, but our workplace law does not give them a clear right to the time and facilities that make it possible.
“Ultimately, this campaign is about the barriers that force people, especially women, to choose between opportunity and how they want to feed their child.”
The UK government has been contacted for comment.
