Pregnant and summon as juror. Help needed

[hereagain99]

I am in need of advice here please. I am pregnant 37 weeks at the moment and today I have received a letter summoning me as juror in June. I will by then have a 5 weeks old baby and I do not want to have to leave the baby with anyone to do my duties as a juror. Also I will hopefully be EBF as I did with my DD which will make it very difficult for me to leave the baby with anyone.

Does any of you have been in a similar situation and can advice me of what to do? Ideally I would like to defer my duties until I start working and the baby is in nursery. This way the baby will be settled in nursery and I will be able to go and do my duties.

Thank in advance

[peachypetite]

Isn't there a number to call on the letter?

[blueskyinmarch]

Just let them know and ask to defer. It will be fine.

[Phase84]

I'm pretty certain you can be excused for that reason. They over select to accommodate people who may not be able to commit.

[BossWitch]

That should be fine, surely? What does the summons say about deferring?

If the baby is 2 weeks late (possible!) you'll have a 3 week old, they're not going to expect you to do jury duty with all that going on!

[neversleepagain]

I was summoned for dury duty when my twins were 6 weeks old, they defered it.

[broughts]

I was summoned when I would have had a 1 month old. I told them I would be breastfeeding and I didn’t have to do it. Didn’t defer.

[ferriswheel]

I sent a handwritten note saying i couldnt do it.

[mintbiscuit]

I can just see the headlines now Breastfeeding mother made to abandon 5 week old for jury service!

OP I think you’re safe. I’m sure they wouldn’t make you do it. You could always threaten to take baby into court though if they do

[monkeyted]

This exact same situation happened to me. I sent back the form asking to defer and it was granted without question. They asked me to serve instead when baby has turned a year old.

[EasterRobin]

It's pretty straightforward to defer. No-one will expect you to take so long away from your baby at that age.

[Wicket2016]

I was called earlier this year, the dates coincide with a midwife appointment, I couldn't rearrange it. I called the summoning bureau (number included in the info) and explained. They didn't even ask me to reschedule, just said they would rule me out for the next 12 months. I wouldn't be surprised if I got a letter next year. I'd definitely give them a call op. Hope you can change the date x

[WelshMammy123]

This happened to me very recently although I'd be doing my jury service around now (32 weeks pregnant). My pregnancy is high risk so lots of additional appts. I just gave them a call and asked to defer which wasn't a problem. Then I just returned the completed form to them.

They have however booked me back in for next year and I can't defer again. I wasn't really expecting that - just thought I might be called up again at some point in the future.

[hereagain99]

Thank you very much. I was so worried just thinking about being away from the baby. I don't mind doing my duty later on but right now it isn't the best time. I may end up with a c-section so by when I have been summon it is still within the 6 weeks they advice of taking it easy. Something I will also add to the form I need to return.

@Mintbiscuit I thought what would happen if I took the baby and started breastfeeding to baby while I was there. The would be funny.

@Monkeyted which reasons did you give? I am not sure how to word it.

@peachypetite I haven't seen a number to call but to be honest it may be there, I was a bit socked when I saw the letter

Thank you again

[Littlebelina]

I got excused from jury duty when my son was 4month old. Just wrote to them telling them I was bf and it was fine

[bakingcupcakes]

Just request to be excused because of BF. I was called when DS was 2 but was excused as I couldn't cover the childcare for so long. Tbh my biggest fear was the loss of earnings. They pay but not much and I could cover a couple of weeks with savings and expenses but no more than that. If I'd ended up on a murder trial we'd have been screwed. I've no idea how people afford to do it.

[Quartz2208]

Yep just call. I got asked 9 years ago around the time DD was born - I have not been asked back since so I clearly was not deferred.

It was a simple matter of just explaining

[PumpkinParent]

A bit different to your situation but the first time I was called, it coincided with a major conference I was organising at work and I was allowed to defer. Then when my deferred jury service came around, I was late on in a pregnancy and needing the loo constantly. So I wrote and explained that I thought it might be potentially very disruptive if I had frequently to ask to go to the toilet, enclosing a copy of my MATB1. I forget exactly what they said but they excused me a second time. They were very reasonable on both occasions. I, like you, was happy to go (civic duty and all that) but it genuinely came at two difficult times, for different reasons. I am sure if you explain, it will be fine. What they don’t like, I guess, is people entirely ignoring the letter or just not turning up. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.