MP Stella Creasy caused a real storm in Parliament recently when she was told off for bringing her three-month-old son Pip into a House of Commons debate.
The 44-year-old working mother received an email ticking her off for breaking rules about bringing children into the chamber.
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Here we ask two mums for their views on the question: Is there ever space for babies in the workplace?
YES
Says Nikki Watkins
MUM-OF-TWO Nikki, 38, is Fab Daily’s Contributing Editor. She lives in Tamworth, Staffs, with husband Simon, 42, an artwork technician, and kids Wilf, four, and two-year-old Jasper. Nikki says:
“What is missing from this argument is common sense. Stella’s child is a teeny newborn, not a screeching toddler causing havoc and turning over benches.
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“If little Pip was going to start crying it would be a muffled mew that the adults in the room could cope with – hardly as loud as the booing and shouting normally heard in the Commons.
“And let’s not forget that the number one reason a woman may need to bring her baby to work is that many are solely breastfed at this young age. If a woman has an urgent meeting, she often can’t pass the baby to a babysitter or even her partner, because the milk goes wherever she goes. At 12 weeks, your little one still feels so delicate and beyond precious.
“A parent may not want to hand their bundle of joy to a babysitter, plus nurseries don’t usually take babies until after they are three months old.
“I understand that many mums can’t bring their babies to work, so it might be irritating to see Stella arguing to bring her precious son into the Commons.
Huge shame
“But she is sparking a debate that, most importantly, starts a bigger conversation about mums in the workplace.
“For example, doing a handful of “keeping in touch days” – where a new parent mutually agrees with her employer to return to her place of work for up to ten days during their maternity or adoption leave – could help so many women keep their footing on their career path.
“Ultimately, taking a baby to work doesn’t look unprofessional, it’s impressive. Who else on the team could juggle changing a nappy and having a tense discussion about a pay rise at the same time?
“By having their “baby on board”, women are showing they don’t want to be just another statistic – one in every five women does not return to work after having kids. And what a huge shame that is.
“Workplaces need to find ways to support mums who may need to bring their baby to work, rather than letting them disappear from the workforce. Just think of all that wasted talent. And why shouldn’t we be able to do both?
“After all, many companies managed to adapt to flexible working during lockdown, so why can’t we do a bit more shuffling and allow people the flexibility to reach their full potential – whether they are a parent or not.”
NO
Says Alice McIntyre
WRITER and mum-of-two Alice, 38, has a baby due in April. She lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, with husband Chris, 37, an architect, and kids Charlotte, 11, and six-year-old Oscar. Alice says:
“I can’t understand why any woman in their right mind would want to take their baby to work. For me, it would feel like eight solid hours of hell. Imagine the tuts from colleagues every time the baby cried, or the turned-up noses when the tot filled its nappy?
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“No, thank you. When I saw Stella’s baby strapped to her chest in the Commons, I thought, ‘You poor woman’.
“Yes, the baby was sleeping, but I fully expected her to bolt out of the room at any moment because, let’s face it, babies are unpredictable.
“They can’t be scheduled to be quiet during an important meeting, or while dealing with a customer complaint – and they don’t come with an off switch which silences their shrieks if they bawl at an inopportune moment.
“It’s not as if a baby can be placed in a desk drawer to burble away happily while you crack on with the job in hand. And it wouldn’t only be your own work that would suffer – spare a thought for colleagues, too.
Baring boobs
“Especially the childless ones who’d rather not be handed a squealing baby while Mum takes that important phone call. And on the flip side, there’s the sort of mums who love babies so much they’d be taking regular breaks for a cuddle and a game of peek-a-boo.
“Aside from the distraction a baby would cause, most workplaces simply aren’t baby-friendly. Employers shouldn’t be expected to fork out to make their workplaces tot-safe.
“When said babies start to crawl, will offices, shops and cafes be expected to install stair gates and socket protectors? It’s just not practical. As for feeding times, the thought of walking into the boardroom to find a gaggle of colleagues breastfeeding turns my stomach. Or baby food all over the staff room – yuck!
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for women feeding their babies, but I’m not so keen on seeing my colleagues baring their boobs on a daily basis.
“For me, work is a place where I get to shed my mummy label for a while, enjoy adult company and be known as me, not just as a mother.
“Bringing my baby to work wouldn’t help my career – it would undoubtedly hinder my performance, irritate my colleagues and alienate me from the rest of the team. Babies at work must be banned – for all our sakes.”
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