New mother says she was told to leave her seven-month-old baby at home with a bottle because breastfeeding is no excuse to skip jury duty
- Aileen Robertson, 39, hoped to avoid jury service as she was breastfeeding
- Claims she was told she must attend as it was no reason to skip jury duty
- The official told her this was because she could 'use a bottle', she claims
- Scottish Court Service denies receiving an official exemption application or that an 'application has been declined on the grounds of breastfeeding'
- Breastfeeding campaigners have labelled the alleged comment 'appalling'
A mother who asked to be excused from jury duty because she is breastfeeding claims she has had her application declined because she can still 'use a bottle'.
The comment, said to have been made by an official at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Fife, has been condemned by breastfeeding campaigners as 'appalling'.
Aileen Robertson, 39, was cited for jury service when her first-born, was only a few weeks old.
She claims she filled in a form asking for an exemption, but received a letter to say she was still to attend court on March 16.
The Fife resident then rang to explain that she was still breastfeeding her seven-month-old, but was told that was not a reason to miss jury duty because she could 'use a bottle'.
That would mean leaving her first child, at home and either feeding him with enough expressed milk to last at least a week or switching to formula.
However, a Scottish Court Service spokesperson claimed no formal application had been received, and to state it was denied on the grounds of breastfeeding was 'incorrect'.
The situation leaves Mrs Robertson in limbo after she claims court staff on the phone told her to send away a medical certificate by her doctor.
Despite doing this, she said she has yet to receive a response and is expected to attend the court hearing.
She said: 'I was surprised when they told me that I had to provide a doctor's note.
'Breastfeeding is not an illness or a medical condition, so why use up precious surgery time getting GPs to write up notes in such circumstances?
'Health services are doing everything they can to promote breastfeeding, so it does not make sense for the court service to make things more difficult.
'There doesn't seem to be any consistency. I have friends who have called up to say they were breastfeeding and were excused, whereas others have had the same issues as me.'
She added: 'In my case, I do not have the option of expressing and giving him milk in a bottle because he simply won't take it. I don't even have a breast pump.
'There would be the issue of childcare as well. I'm currently on maternity leave so somebody would have to look after him. He is fed about five times a day so even if he took milk from a bottle it would be almost impossible for me to express that amount if I was on jury duty.'
She said there needed to be 'clearer guidelines' set in place to prevent this from reoccurring.
She said: 'I understand there is a need to encourage citizens to help the legal process but this should not be at the expense of what is an important public health issue.
She said the 'appalling' comment was made by an official at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Fife (pictured)
'There needs to be clearer guidelines on this. Surely they should just look at a baby's date of birth and realise that they will be too young to leave.
'I think mothers with children under the age of one should be exempt from the service.'
The news was universally condemned by those who support breastfeeding mothers.
Anna Burbidge of the international charitable breastfeeding support organisation La Leche League GB, said the situation was appalling and being told to give a bottle showed a complete lack of understanding.
She said: 'For one thing the mother's health would be put at risk because of the danger of mastitis from not feeding and her milk supply would be disrupted.
'Many breastfed babies will not take a bottle and in addition, will be very distressed in being away from their mothers.
'We would agree that the needs of a baby to be breastfed should always be paramount and that this need to be made clear.
'Mothers are, in effect, being told they must withhold their babies' food from them - and this would be considered completely unacceptable in any other circumstances.'
Rosemary Dodds, senior policy advisor with the National Childbirth Trust, added: 'If a mother decides to breastfeed her baby, the judicial system needs to respect her choice.
'Society needs to do much more to support women in their feeding decisions.'
A Scottish Court Service spokesman said: 'No formal application has yet been received. It is completely incorrect to say that the application has been declined on the grounds of breastfeeding.
'Dunfermline Sheriff Court was contacted by a potential juror advising that she was breastfeeding and unable to do jury service.
'She was advised about jurors being excused for medical grounds who take preference and to contact her surgery and obtain something in writing.
'The right for automatic excusal from jury service is listed in statute. Anyone else wishing to be excused is normally asked to submit their reasons to the court for consideration and to include any relevant supporting documentation for consideration.
'The Sheriff Clerk will then consider those applications sympathetically but in some circumstances the court may not be able to excuse individuals where to do so would prejudice the conduct of court business.
'It is not our policy to request a medical certificate to support a request for excusal on the grounds of breastfeeding.'
The spokesman said the court had an appropriate room available for those who required privacy in order to breastfeed.
Most watched News videos
- Gideon Falter on Met Police chief: 'I think he needs to resign'
- Trump lawyer Alina Habba goes off over $175m fraud bond
- Mother attempts to pay with savings account card which got declined
- Shocking moment thug on bike snatches pedestrian's phone
- Shocking moment passengers throw punches in Turkey airplane brawl
- Shocking moment balaclava clad thief snatches phone in London
- Shocking moment man hurls racist abuse at group of women in Romford
- Russian soldiers catch 'Ukrainian spy' on motorbike near airbase
- China hit by floods after violent storms battered the country
- Shocking footage shows men brawling with machetes on London road
- Machete wielding thug brazenly cycles outside London DLR station
- Moment fire breaks out 'on Russian warship in Crimea'