A student mum said she was suspended from university after taking her newborn baby into lectures and seminars, despite claiming that she was previously told it would be allowed.
Leah Foster, 35, was studying psychology at the University of Derby when she was told she wouldn't be allowed on campus if she insisted on bringing her son, Emmet, into class with her. However, Mrs Foster, from Chesterfield, claims that she was previously told the opposite.
The University of Derby has said that it wouldn't exclude a student because they wish to continue to study while breastfeeding, such as in Mrs Foster's case. However, babies and children are not allowed into teaching sessions because they may distract other students, Derbyshire Live reports.
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Mrs Foster received an email from her tutor asking for a meeting with the head of student services after she took Emmet onto campus with her for a few weeks. She said she thought the October meeting was about how they could help her with bringing Emmett into class.
Instead, when she went to the meeting, she said she "felt a bit blindsided by some of the things they were saying because I was expecting to have an actual supportive chat but it wasn't supportive whatsoever. They did say they've received complaints but I don't see how he can be distracting in any way, if he starts to make a noise I remove myself and him from the lesson so it's no more disruptive than someone getting up and going to the toilet."
She added: "They also said that some people have complained that they can't bring their children onto campus but I said that he's only coming with me because he's so young and he's breastfed. I have a two-year-old as well but he doesn't come with me because he would be two disruptive so I have different childcare arrangements for my two-year-old son but Emmett is still too young."
However, Mrs Foster claims that she only received compliments about how good Emmett's behaviour is whenever he's on campus. She added that a fellow student or lecturer has never told her that Emmet was disruptive in class.
Nonetheless, on November 3, Mrs Foster said sh received an email that said "we understand you've continued to bring him in despite what we told you" - however, she claims that she was never previously told to not bring Emmett onto campus.
She added: "I explicitly asked them, in that meeting, 'are you saying the University is telling me I cannot bring Emmett onto campus' and they didn't say no, they gave me a wishy-washy answer and referred back to the options they'd already given me."
Then, around November 22, Mrs Foster received a phone call from the university informing her that she was suspended prior to an investigation. Her suspension was due to last two weeks and while she submitted her case to the university, she says she is yet to receive a reply on whether her suspension has been lifted or not.
She said: "There's a lot of anxiety about how much I've missed, I actually miss going into campus and I miss my friends, I'm worried that I'm missing out on content in the seminars and workshops."
A spokesperson for the University of Derby said: "The University has not and would never exclude a student because they wish to continue studying while breastfeeding or caring for children, or because they wished to breastfeed on any of our campuses.
“We have many students who are combining studying with parenthood, and support them in every way we can, including personal support plans tailored to the individual. However, we do not permit babies and children to be brought into teaching sessions, primarily because of the disruption caused to other students.
"We have received complaints from students who have struggled to concentrate on occasions where babies and children have been present. Where students wish to keep their child or baby close and continue to study, we will always work with them to find ways to best support them while being mindful of the need to ensure a good experience and suitable learning environment for all our students.
“We are very supportive of breastfeeding, have facilities on campus to support this, and our position is clearly laid out in our Student Pregnancy, Maternity and Paternity Policy.
“With regards to this particular case, in line with our procedure, we reviewed Leah’s temporary suspension at the end of the two weeks and wrote to her on 7 December to invite her to a meeting to revisit all the options we have offered her that would allow us to end her suspension and further support her as a student parent, without impacting on the experience of other students and staff.”
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