Bringing a newborn to university lectures

[Nimnuan]

I'm on a part-time university course (apprenticeship) and expecting a baby in the next few weeks. I'm not intending to take a break as any break would mean a year's delay. All classes this year my baby will be under 26 weeks old and breastfeeding.
I want to bring her to lectures with me because arranging childcare and expressing breastmilk will be much more difficult at such a young age and given the university's atrocious arrangements for expressing. Obviously if she cries or is disruptive I'll have to step out into the hallway.
I've just been told that I'm not allowed to bring my newborn to lectures because it would be a "contravention of rules and regulations". I've asked to be told which rules and regulations but haven't heard back yet.
Can you give me any advice about how to argue my case?

Thank you. The lecturer initially said it was fine, but seems to have spoken since to someone who disagrees as she just sent an email saying it's not allowed.

Why do you need to physically be there in person? Ask the Uni to set you up a Teams call so then you can dial in, no travel and if/when baby needs fed or settled you can accommodate. They’d maybe do it as a reasonable adjustment if you had a disability and pregnancy/maternity also a protected characteristic so worth asking. Most lecturers have laptops and that adjustment/compromise could be win win. Saves disrupting rest of the year unless only your needs and preferences matter!?

I said the same thing about my uni. There's often dogs about too. It's not some sort of uncontrolled mayhem that people seem to assume. One of the support staff were in recently for meetings on their kit day with their baby too.

Worst thing for lecturers is people who don't show up or don't do any of the reading

Rather concerning that there are lecturers on here, or people who have had lecturers, that ignore H&S.

An acquaintance had a colleague take a toddler into work for a visit. The toddler fell through railings and died. Work places (other than nurseries) are not regulated to protect babies and children

You’re willing to put your newborn baby in a very unsafe situation almost from birth with the amount of sleep deprivation you WILL have plus the excessive driving where the baby will spend 3 hours in a car seat for your own very selfish reasons, when the situation could easily be solved. I’m sorry, but I think youre highly irresponsible and I feel incredibly angry that you’re so blasé about such an important think as taking care of a baby. This is verging on neglect in that you’re actively planning to do such a thing!
Your proposal puts you front and centre of your decisions and relegates a tiny baby right to the back of the queue. Shame on you.

They’d maybe do it as a reasonable adjustment if you had a disability and pregnancy/maternity also a protected characteristic so worth asking.

Reasonable adjustment only applies to disability, not any other protected characteristic.

A room with desks and chairs in it is not safe for a baby??

I really hope it works out for you. I have a cousin in Germany who was supported with attending classes with a baby - I think maybe more around 4-6 months - I wonder if the health and safety laws different there.

It definitely sounds like the best thing for you and baby given the long drive would be if you could access lectures online at least in the initial phase of you being 2 weeks post partum. If you need to have an emergency c section - which can happen even if you didn’t last time - you won’t be able to drive for 6 weeks ! Plus the jump from 0-1 to 1-2 can as I’m sure you’ve already been told be brutal. I’m a big believer in women achieving their goals despite being parents and think it should be commended that you’re so willing to complete the course when it would be easy to just say oh well and defer for another year. But you do have to be realistic with what your brain will actually be able to absorb in those first few weeks post partum, whether it will be safe for you to drive etc. are you planning on taking an exams ? And also your body does need rest and TLC after a birth. Granted it is only one day but one very long day. Not all babies latch easily either, sounds like you had a great breastfeeding journey last time and I truly hope you do this time. But it’s not a given. 2 weeks post partum I needed to just be sat with my boobs out trying to get the latch to work until we both got it. I’m not saying all of this to out you off but maybe take the pressure off you having to go into lectures and find other reasonable adjustments so you don’t have to defer the year namely video call and improved expressing facilities.

No.

For example here is the LSE’s policy. It clearly envisages situations where breastfeeding students will have their baby in the lecture.

Kingston’s policy - babies in class with lecturer’s permission.

SOAS policy - includes permission form for children and babies on campus.

I think this is a more common practice than a lot of people might think.

The problem is that not all universities record lectures or have the facilities for lectures to be streamed live on Teams. Given OP said her request was turned down, I’m not entirely sure that her class has the facilities? @Nimnuan can you clarify if your course has remote access?

In olden times, when I was at uni and female academics were rare, Mary Beard was a multitasker, breastfeeding while giving lectures. According to people the year above me on my course, anyway. May have only happened the once when her childcare fell through, I guess, but it certainly went down in the annals of classical history.

Someone may have mentioned this but surely the main issue is that you are on an apprenticeship I.e. University is part of your working hours, therefore, according the apprenticeship rules and funding, you cannot attend university while on maternity leave (this will trigger a break in learning). As you are being paid to be at University, then taking a baby would be completely inappropriate - unless your employer allows you to take your baby with you whilst working (which seems unlikely).
If you are on a UK apprenticeship then look into the rules as I think the issue lies here rather than the appropriateness of taking a newborn to a lecture (I say this as someone who supports apprenticeship in HE).

Unfortunately there is no case to argue as they won't be insured to have a newborn baby in a lecture room!
I really do think you need to give your head a wobble if you really believe this is still a case worth arguing.....
Your baby has a poonami in the lecture
Your baby starts crying in the lecture
Your baby starts throwing things out of the cot/seat/pram etc
Your baby starts babbling endlessly
Your baby needs winding in the lecture
Your baby throws up in the lecture
All of the above could realistically happen within a space of 10mins!!! I'd be thrilled to bits sitting next to you disturbing my opportunity to learn.....

Have you been in a university recently? It has become a much more transactional culture since the introduction of student fees. They all have laptops which we can’t forbid them from using and you can’t see what they are watching when you are down the front. You find out when you walk around with handouts and they fail to minimise their screens quickly enough.

Thank you!

Has it been a long time since you had your first and you’ve forgotten what it’s like? Or was he/she just a total unicorn baby? Because there’s no way I could have managed a day of lectures with long travel both ends with either of mine and I would describe them as fairly average.

Even if you do persuade the university to agree to this in principle - what if he/she turns out like many babies to be colicky? What’s your plan B?

I know you said the lectures aren’t recorded but could you get access to the slides and notes? Do you definitely have to be there in person? If someone is sick or absent on the day for any other reason what happens then?

If I were you, I’d be focusing more on getting the university to make the lectures more accessible to you from home rather than allowing you to bring a baby. Apart from anything else it would make life much easier for you.

I'm really surprised by many of these comments. A newborn baby that is being breastfed is considerably different from a small child. As for insurance, i highly doubt that the lecture theatres will be at capacity. I think that if the baby cries and you leave that would be fine. However, the bigger issue is how unrealistic you are being about juggling a baby and uni. The sleep deprivation is horrendous and it's a 24/7 job. I think that you wil find it al too much and also risk missing out on some quality time with your baby.
As an aside, does your uni record lectures? Could you join in virtually? That would make life so much easier than having to get up and Leave the house with a baby and travel to uni. That could make it just about doable.

At the end of the day, students pay for uni and are well within their rights to not accept unnecessary disruptions in lectures.

It might be what you want to do but the uni's priority should be what's best for all, not just you.

If not an apprentice, this would seem completely appropriate. If a UK apprentice, the funding rules won't allow students to attend university whilst on maternity leave. Apprentices are paid to attend University - therefore this decision won't just lie with the HEI, the employer would also need to be in agreement with any such plans.

It’s a ridiculous idea. You can’t do this. Anyone suggesting ‘it’ll be fine’ is plain silly. Look, you can’t have both, a newborn and a University course do not go together (something you should have thought about several months ago).

There are facilities to do so, it was used during COVID. I requested it in my previous pregnancy/maternity and was refused but yes it's worth asking again.

This sounds all lovely but it really just reflects the fact that female academics can't take proper leave because of the publish or perish culture. I lost count how many senior women told me that I should not take more than 1 week off after having a baby and never ever ever have more than one baby.

I'll be using keeping in touch days, getting normal maternity pay.

I don't know of any university nowadays that doesn't record lectures. Our rooms do it automatically without us doing anything. A red light comes on and that's it. Everything is up online.