Amazon and other large employers have faced growing scrutiny over how workplace and site-access rules affect parents, especially those caring for infants. That issue moved into focus again on July 6, when a breastfeeding mother said Amazon barred her from attending a business course at the company’s Dunfermline, Scotland, site after she had already set out for the event.
Amazon says a 20-week-old baby could not enter the Dunfermline site
Rachel Bews said she had informed Amazon about a week in advance that she would need to bring her 20-week-old baby to an in-person business course because she was breastfeeding, according to reporting published by AOL and Yahoo that cited the company’s response. Bews said she was then told by phone, while traveling by train to the event, that children under 6 were not allowed on the site. Amazon confirmed that rule in a statement.
The company said, “We sincerely apologise to Ms Bews that our site access policy was not communicated clearly before she travelled,” according to the published report. Amazon also said it does not permit children under age 6 on any of its fulfillment-center sites. The company has not publicly identified how many attendees were expected at the course or whether any other participants were affected by the same access rule.
The reported event took place at Amazon’s warehouse in Dunfermline, a major fulfillment location in Fife, Scotland. Available business listings identify the Dunfermline Amazon operation as the EDI4 site. Public reporting on July 6 and July 7 did not indicate that Bews was an Amazon employee; the accounts described the event as a business course run by Amazon at the facility.
What is confirmed so far is narrow and specific: the incident involved one mother, one infant, and one Amazon site in Dunfermline. The published accounts identify the child as 20 weeks old and state that the mother said she had notified Amazon in advance about bringing the baby because she was breastfeeding. Amazon’s public response addressed the communication failure, not the underlying age-restriction policy.
The company has not released a full list of affected courses, participating businesses, or other sites where similar rules apply in the same way. It also has not publicly said whether the course could have been moved, rescheduled, or offered in a separate non-warehouse setting once the issue was raised. No public statement reviewed here says whether alternative accommodations, such as remote attendance, were offered before Bews began traveling.
Because the incident took place in Scotland, its immediate local relevance is tied to Dunfermline and the surrounding Fife business community. The Dunfermline facility has been used for public-facing activity before; Amazon’s UK operation said in 2017 that it had launched public tours at the fulfillment center and welcomed more than 250 children, teachers, and parents from local primary schools during a school visit. That history does not contradict the current policy, but it shows the site has hosted organized visitors under controlled conditions.
Amazon attributed the immediate issue to site-access rules and to poor communication before travel. The company’s statement, as published, said children under 6 are not permitted at its fulfillment centers, framing the restriction as a standing policy rather than a decision made only for this event. Separate public information about Amazon warehouse tours also says the minimum age for tour participation is 6, which is consistent with the age threshold cited in the company’s response.
At the same time, Scotland’s public guidance says it is illegal for a business to prevent someone from breastfeeding or bottle-feeding a child in public places covered by the law. That guidance does not automatically resolve access questions inside an active warehouse or fulfillment center, where separate safety and entry rules may apply. The tension in this case is between a breastfeeding-related need and a facility policy that barred the infant from entering the premises.
For residents and small-business participants, the practical takeaway is limited but clear. Amazon has apologized for not communicating the policy clearly before Bews traveled, but it has not announced any broader policy change, exception process, or revised accommodation procedure tied to this incident. As of July 7, the company’s public position remains that children under 6 are not allowed on its fulfillment-center sites.