Now, a breastfeeding mum has come out to share her frustration after being told that she would not be exempted from jury duty because her seven-month-old can still ‘use a bottle’ in her absence.
Aileen Robertson was first called for jury duty when her son, Isaac, was just a few weeks old. As she was breastfeeding at the time, she filled out an exemption form, expecting to be excused.
However, shortly after she received a letter in response informing her that she would still be required to make the scheduled appearance in court in March.
When Aileen rang up local authorities to explain her situation, she was told that needing to breastfeed your child is not a valid excuse to miss jury duty, because her little one could ‘use a bottle’ instead.
This left the concerned mum with two options: express enough milk to last the duration of the case, or switch to formula.
She was then told to get a medical certificate from her doctor, but even armed with this, she is still waiting on a response from the court service.
According to MailOnline.com, a Scottish Court Service spokesperson is insisting that no formal application was received from Aileen, adding that to say her application was denied on grounds of breastfeeding is ‘incorrect’.
With the situation up in the air, Aileen told the publication: “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.”
What are your thoughts?
