: As part of plans to make the city breastfeeding-friendly, the Puducherry Municipality has earmarked an enclosure in the landmark Bharathi Park for mothers to feed their newborn.
The Bharathi Park is one of the most crowded spots in the city, which is frequented by tourists and people from all walks of life, and where it can be impossible for lactating mothers to get a moment of privacy.
The facility is expected to be opened next week.
It is proposed to keep the facility at the Bharathi Park open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The room has been designed in such a way that it would ensure privacy to mothers to feed their infants at ease without any disturbance from strangers.
The initiative is part of the efforts of the local body to provide privacy for women to attend to the feeding needs of their babies on time. With such facilities sparse in the city, lactating mothers often have to face a harrowing time once they leave home with their babies. “The initiative was launched last year and the municipality had set up two breastfeeding rooms in the eastern and western side of the new bus terminus,” Municipal Commissioner R. Chandirasekaran said.
The facilities at the crowded bus terminus have received an overwhelming response from a large number of lactating mothers who often end up waiting for a long time to catch a bus, and the congested waiting room is hardly ideal to breastfeed the child.
At the enclosure in Bharathi Park, the municipality has provided a light and a drinking water tap, Mr. Chandirasekaran said.
Two women can use the enclosure at the same time and it will be manned by women workers.
Based on the response, the municipality will be extending the initiative to more such public places in the city, he said.
