Edinburgh mum-of-three Rachael Bews is petitioning the UK Government for a statutory right to paid breastfeeding and expressing breaks, alongside suitable workplace facilities for expressing milk
A mum-of-three is calling on the Government to amend the law to allow breastfeeding parents paid time off work to feed their baby or express milk. Rachael Bews has launched a petition urging political leaders to establish a statutory right to paid breastfeeding and expressing breaks, along with appropriate workplace facilities.
Rachael argues that without this right, some mums are being put in the impossible position of having to choose between breastfeeding their child and earning a wage.
The businesswoman kicked off her Don’t Make Me Choose campaign after she was barred from attending a professional development programme because she couldn’t bring her then five-month-old daughter, who she was breastfeeding at the time.
Edinburgh-based Ms Bews said her campaign was “not about asking for special treatment”. “It is about removing a practical barrier to health, equality and workforce participation,” she clarified, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Her petition, which has been submitted to the UK Parliament, points out that “breastfeeding parents in the UK have no statutory right to paid breastfeeding or expressing breaks at work”. This, it alleges, “forces many to choose between feeding their baby and participating fully in work”.
If the petition garners more than 10,000 signatures, the Government will be obliged to respond, while over 100,000 signatures would see the issue potentially debated in Parliament. At present, the petition has amassed 1,741 signatures.
Ms Bews, who founded the Nu Coton marketing agency, asserted: “No woman should have to choose between breastfeeding her baby and earning a living. Yet that is the choice our current system creates.”
She went on: “I began this campaign after being prevented from taking part in a professional opportunity because I needed to bring my breastfed baby.
“Since speaking publicly, I have heard from women who have expressed milk in toilets, weaned earlier than they wanted to, lost income, turned down opportunities or left work altogether.”
Rachael 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. This campaign is ultimately about the barriers that force people, particularly women, to choose between opportunity and how they want to feed their child.”
The UK Government has been approached for comment by Reach PLC.