Amazon bars breastfeeding boss from business course over health and safety fears

A CEO has been banned from attending a business course at Amazon after being told breastfeeding her baby would pose a health and safety risk.

Rachael Bews, who runs Scotland-based marketing agency Nu Coton, was looking forward to joining the Amazon Innovation Accelerator program.

Participants tour Amazon’s fulfillment center in Dunfermline, north-west of Edinburgh, before attending workshops for the rest of the day.

The fulfillment center is Amazon’s largest in the UK at 93,000 square metres, the length of 14 football fields, and employs over 1,200 staff.

Mrs Bews, 33, arranged pet sitting and childcare for her other two children and spent £80 on train tickets so she, her husband and their five-month-old baby could attend.

She told event organizers that she planned to directly breastfeed her daughter Sophia, who her husband would care for, throughout the day.

While attending the workshops, Ms. Bews hoped Amazon would find a place for her husband and Sophia on the larger campus.

But her hopes were dashed while she was on the train for the event when Amazon called to say her breastfeeding requirements could not be met.

Dunfermline’s fulfillment center is the largest in the UK at 93,000 square metres, is the length of 14 football fields and employs more than 1,200 permanent staff (pictured)

An event organizer told Ms Bews that babies and young children could not be brought to the industrial site due to health and safety requirements.

The branding executive said she immediately burst into “hot, sweaty tears” in a LinkedIn post she penned hours after the phone call.

Although Ms Bews did not expect to bring her baby to the fulfillment centre, she said she hoped her husband and Sophia could stay in a nearby meeting room while she attended the workshops.

While the site offered private breastfeeding rooms for staff to express or store breast milk, Ms Bews planned to breastfeed Sophia directly throughout the day and did not bring sterile bottles, breast pumps or storage equipment.

The mother-of-three wrote on LinkedIn: ‘I completely understand the need for strict health and safety rules in an active industrial environment.

‘But the practical consequence is that I will not be able to attend on the first day because there is no viable way for me to breastfeed my baby during the programme.’

Ms Bews was told via email that Amazon would be ‘happy’ to cover her travel costs. He was also offered a place on a show near Manchester.

They wrote: ‘We thank you for your understanding that, as I explained when we spoke, babies and young children cannot be brought onto site due to health and safety requirements. ‘As this is an active industrial working environment, access is restricted to ensure the safety of all visitors and employees.’

The center is 14 football fields long and employs around 1,200 staff (pictured)

On the day of the event, Ms Bews said she ‘couldn’t face’ going to the venue but found there was still no viable way to attend while breastfeeding.

‘As disappointing as it was, today gave me time to think,’ he wrote.

‘I don’t want my daughter’s generation to still face barriers to opportunity because they are breastfeeding, caring for others, or trying to balance family life with a career or business.’

An Amazon spokesperson said: ‘We sincerely apologize to Ms Bews for not clearly communicating our site access policy prior to attending the event. This wasn’t supposed to happen and we understand his frustration.

‘Amazon does not allow children under the age of six on any fulfillment center sites. This is a long-standing health and safety policy that applies to all visitors and staff.

‘We recognize that this policy, combined with late communication, meant that Ms Bews was unable to attend as planned and we apologize for the disruption and disappointment this has caused.

‘We are reviewing our communication process to prevent this from happening again.’

Ms Bews has received an outpouring of support on LinkedIn, with hundreds of women juggling motherhood and their careers sharing similar experiences.

Laura Middleton wrote: ‘I was once refused entry to a pace awareness course when I said I needed to part-feed my newborn.

‘[I] I was told they couldn’t allow me to leave for 10 minutes to feed him or bring him into the room to do so. Needless to say, I don’t accept no. It was very ugly.

‘My husband was happy to wait with her outside the center until she needed to be fed. Finally, when they ran out of excuses, they gave up. And they let me leave the room for 10 minutes to feed him. I literally went during the break!’

Candice Day wrote: ‘I was the first person in history to request a breastfeeding waiver for my GMAT (the standard exam required for entry into a graduate programme), but they refused.

‘A place was provided at the exam centre, but the time for my exam was not paused. I rush to feed (unsuccessfully) and then rush to finish my exam. I failed. I had to take it again after about six months.

‘I had a newborn to feed when I attended a two-day orientation for my MBA and baby number 2. They refused ANY accommodation. I had to carry a breast pump with me all day and take my breaks and lunch breaks in a car in the parking lot where my partner brought the baby and toddler for me to breastfeed.

‘Then they wonder why women choose career stability before babies.’

The Daily Mail has contacted Ms Bews for further comment.