A breastfeeding mother has revealed she was threatened with a fine and warned she would be left behind when she attempted to take breast milk on a flight.
Daisy Crawford, 40, from Belfast, was humiliated on Sunday after easyJet staff at Bristol airport told her she was not allowed to bring breast milk on the flight despite travelling with a premature newborn.
Daisy was flying from Bristol to Belfast after visiting friends and family in Devon.
She said that staff were uncaring and refused to understand how important it was for her to bring the milk with her.
The mother-of-three said she had had no issue going through the airport security earlier but staff refused to listen to her explanation and told her the flight would take off without her unless she paid a £50 fine.
Daisy said she found the whole experience very upsetting and claimed she was being treated differently because she was breastfeeding.
Speaking to BristolLive, she claimed that staff at the gate told her that she would be charged extra for bringing breast milk in a cool bag and her pumping equipment onboard the flight despite the issue not being flagged while going through security.
The mother was told she would have to pay £50 for extra baggage because her separate breast milk bag would not fit in one cabin bag.
Daisy Crawford, 40, (pictured) was humiliated after easyJet staff at Bristol airport told her she was not allowed to bring breastmilk on the flight despite travelling with a premature newborn
Daisy told the publication she tried to explain how critically important the milk was for her little one and find the government information she had previously read online but she had no service.
She alleged that staff grew impatient and were unkind, explaining: ‘The staff were very stony faced and said “We’re just doing our job and we’re people too. We’re not trying to upset you.”
Daisy replied: ‘Well, this is very upsetting for me.’
Determined not to pay the extra £50, she began unpacking her bags to try and find room.
As she scrambled to reorganise her bag to make space for the milk, Daisy said she was told the plane would leave without her if she didn’t hurry up.
She said: ‘The shuttle bus was full of everybody waiting so they were saying “You’re going to miss your flight”. They then threatened to fly without me.’
In the end, Daisy wore a jumper, jacket and coat and put her flip-flops in her pockets so she could fit the cool bag in her cabin bag.
Daisy said she was very upset by the experience – especially since she had done her research about the rules beforehand.
The mother-of-three said she had had no issue going through the airport security but staff at the gate told her if she couldn’t fit the milk in her cabin bag she would have to pay £50 (tock image)
She added that she felt she had been discriminated against, explaining: ‘Why should I have to use space in an already small baggage allowance to carry equipment that is essential to me as a breastfeeding mother?
‘It’s medically necessary, and I don’t think someone with other medical equipment would be expected to fit it in their hand luggage or be charged extra.’
The government website states that mothers can carry as much breastmilk as they need for the journey, although it recommends checking with the airport before flying.
It states: ‘When travelling with a baby you’re allowed to take enough baby food, baby milk and sterilised water for the journey. There is no legal limit to how much you can take however check with your airport before you travel.’
You can also carry breast milk in hand luggage even when not travelling with a baby but frozen breast milk cannot be transported in hand luggage.
The website also says: ‘Individual containers of breast milk must hold no more than 2,000ml. Each container will need to be screened at the security point. Airport staff might need to open the containers to screen the liquids.’
An easyJet spokesperson told BristolLive: ‘We are very sorry for Ms Crawford’s experience while boarding her flight as this is not the level of service we expect.
‘We advise customers to carry baby milk in their cabin baggage and do allow customers an additional free of charge bag for a breast pump and milk.
‘We ask them to let us know in advance of travel so there are no issues at the gate.’
