Baby steps

Jasmine Singh

Larissa Waters, a Greens MP in Australia, breastfed her baby while moving a motion in parliament; the rules had been changed last year, allowing mothers to breastfeed in the chamber. Earlier, mothers had to leave the chamber to do so.

And now, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation plans to launch lounges for women with an aim to provide a separate space for lactating mothers. This makes a lot of sense; if there can separating smoking spaces, then it is only basic to ask for a separate room for lactating mothers in offices, airports, bus stands, hotels, restaurants and public spaces in general! Women in the Tricity feel see this as their mandatory right.

Tough job

Anandita Rajput, 29, a dentist from Sector-15, is a new mother who has to rush to a lonely spot, preferably her car, with her sister or whosoever accompanying her doubling up as a ‘blind’ and guard while she breastfeeds her nine-month old son, Kaustav. “The thought of feeding my kid in a washroom of a swanky hotel too sounds repulsive to me and there are times when I cannot leave the dinning or lunching group of friends. So, I prefer feeding him in the car, but it gets slightly embarrassing.” Anandita wants to get rid of the last word embarrassing.

It is the embarrassment of feeding the kid in public, which forces young women to either feed their kids bottled milk or just make a dash for their home, from wherever they are. Breastfeeding Support For Indian Mothers organised an event in Bengaluru in August where the group spoke about breastfeeding in public. However, exposing her breast in public is too much of a bold thing for any lactating mother, especially in India.

Social angle

“This is why we need a law to enable women to breastfeed in public,” Mohali-based doctor Taranpreet Ahuja suggests. “There is some kind of social stigma attached to women breastfeeding in public; in our Indian set up it is an exercise that should be performed away from public gaze. Even family members should not be a party to it.”

In fact, this is what Larrisa Waters had also said after she breastfed her kid in the Australian parliament. “Women are going to have babies, and if they want to do their job and be at work and look after their baby, the reality is that we are going to have to accommodate that,” added Larrisa.

Modern woman

Although women in the city voice their concern, are the other people comfortable with the idea of coming up with separate room for lactating mothers? Says Munish Bajaj, CEO, Tress Lounge, Chandigarh, “These days women are smart and outgoing, balancing their personal and professional life pretty well. They like to spend as much time as they can with their kids. I think creating a separate room for them would be the least we can do.”

A good number of women still feel uncomfortable with breastfeeding in public; they sure want a viable and safe alternative for it. [email protected]