Mum’s anger after having five days worth of breast milk seized by security at Heathrow Airport
Katie Langan, 33, had expressed the milk for her one-year-old daughter for a five-day break - but it was confiscated despite her travelling with it several times
A NEW mum says she was ‘humiliated’ after security staff at Heathrow Airport seized five days’ worth of breast milk from her.
Katie Langan, 31, who lives in Holland with her partner and regularly travels to and from the UK for work, was forced to give up 10 bags of milk for her one-year-old daughter Layla.
Katie, a HR manager, was returning from a five-day break with friends in London to celebrate New Year when her milk was confiscated.
While Katie was away she pumped two to three times a day, giving her 10 bags of milk containing roughly 80ml, each of which took around 20 minutes to pump.
If mums don't continue to express milk when they're away from their babies, their supply reduces meaning that they cannot produce as much when they return.
But as she passed through security on her way home she was banned from taking the milk with her, despite pleading with security and offering other solutions, such as checking it in, decanting it into containers and paying £60 for extra baggage.
Heartbroken Katie, originally from Swansea, south Wales, said she was treated with "contempt" and a "lack of respect" and was left in tears in front of queues of people.
RELATED STORIES
She said: "I was embarrassed and humiliated. I had to explain about my breastfeeding to a man.
"I was totally heartbroken that I had to dump this breast milk that I had put love and time into pumping. It is a chore but it's a labour of love.
"This means that the next time I go away, my baby can't have breast milk."
Katie has travelled 20 times over the past year for work, through airports including Boston, Istanbul, Bristol, Amsterdam and Edinburgh.
She always carries the fluid in special bags for breast milk which staff x-ray, inspect and swab, and she has never had any problems getting it through security.
She added: "I just don't want other women to experience what I experienced.
"I was absolutely horrified by the guy's reaction. I was quite creative in thinking up solutions and thought of a few different ways that I could get around it.
"But he was not willing to help me. It was extremely frustrating.
"It was either stand there and argue with him or miss my flight, which I didn't want to do because I had been away from my baby.
"When I arrive at security I always announce that I'm travelling with breast milk to alert them and they usually do separate testing.
"This time as usual I went through the x-ray machine and when I got to the end this man opened up my bag.
"He said, 'It is above the limit for general liquids.' I said, 'Breast milk is exempt, I have done this before and never had a problem.'
"He said he couldn't understand why I was travelling with breast milk without my baby."
And when disappointed Katie contacted Heathrow to complain, she was less than impressed with their response.
She added: "I received a response from Heathrow but it was just copy and paste bull crap from the policy."
"Why is Heathrow so much stricter than other airports I have travelled through in Europe and not had a problem?"
Department for Transport regulations state that parents travelling through UK airports can take breast milk on a plane as long as they are travelling with a baby or infant.
The current limit for liquids in carry-on luggage is 100ml, with larger amounts needing to be checked in.
Heathrow Airport said that it has a legal obligation to enforce to regulations.
A spokesperson said: "We do appreciate that this has been a frustrating experience for Ms Langan and we always regret causing inconvenience."
"When travelling without your child, the restriction limits apply without exception.
"Passengers wishing to transport in excess of that are welcome to do so in their hold luggage."
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368