Everyday, the MGR Bus Stand in Mattuthavani, the Omni Bus Stand and the Anna Bus Stand see scores of women travelling and among them there are young mothers who nurse their children.
In 2015, the State government chose to prioritise this group by giving it a private space in a public place. Late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa inaugurated a total of 352 rooms for lactating mothers equipped with a host of facilities, including sizeable area for feeding, seating and cleaning post-feeding. When the scheme was introduced, Madurai was among the first beneficiaries. Four years later, the rooms lie neglected. According to activists the rooms are unsafe for feeding.
In poor shape
Theserooms in Madurai are located at the MGR Bus Stand in Mattuthavani, the Omni Bus Stand, Anna Bus Stand, Arapalayam Bus Stand and Madurai junction railway station.
Two-thirds of the existing set up lie under lock and key. The room in the Omni Bus Stand is broken and locked. “The place has been locked for at least two years now. Nobody really uses it,” says a conservancy worker. It is located adjacent to a public toilet and hence attracts a persistent stench of urine.
A similar situation prevails at the Anna Bus Stand. The locked room has betel leaf stains on the outside. Mothers, who often cross the bus stand, approach nearby hotels to find clean spaces to feed their children.
Although the centres in Arapalayam and Mattuthavani are relatively better maintained, local vendors say that passengers often enter the lactating room at MGR Bus Stand, use the toilet facility and leave the place. The room is dusty and closed and the curtains are mouldy.
Managing Trustee, Justice Shivaraj V. Patil Foundation, S. Selva Gomathi, whose team surveyed some of these spaces in 2017, says that the rooms are in an abysmal condition. She says that the facility at the Madurai junction has no space for a woman to sit. “Similar rooms exist in Usilampatti and Peraiyur as well but people do not have any idea about their existence. All three spaces are constantly surrounded by men, terribly maintained and unsafe for women,” she says. Such situations can compromise the health of both the mother and child, she feels.
Convenor of the LIC Working Women’s Sub-Committee of Insurance Corporation Employees’ Union (ICEU), Madurai Division, G. Aruna, says, “Most people do not know about the existence of such a room. How will they be able to feed? Information about the existence of such facilities should be popularised and the rooms should be properly maintained,” she says.
A faculty member of a women’s college in the city says that times have changed since women donned the traditional sari, an attire considered comfortable for feeding infants. “Working women now wear salwar kameez and travel. In case they need to feed their children, they have no choice but to seek a closed room. The public perception of breastfeeding is negative. It is the right of a mother and a child to have access to clean drinking water, a bathroom and a diaper changing area. The rooms should definitely house a dustbin,” she says.
Ideal set up
Gynaecologist S. Sujatha Sangumani says that lactating shelters should be private and should have protected space. “Milk secretion is connected with the brain. If women are stressed when they feed, the quantity may be less. A private and approachable space must be given priority,” she says.
An ideal lactating room must have a comfortable chair that supports the mother’s back and a couch-type set up for her to lie post-feeding. “Many care for women during pregnancy but lactation period is just as important and equally exhausting. A couch for lying down can be useful,” she adds.
Dr. Sujatha says that the room should be well lit and ventilated so that there is proper air circulation. A bathroom should be present as some mothers may have engorgement-- a phenomenon where the breast tissue overfills with milk, blood and other fluids. “Women need to clean themselves and their children post-feeding. They can also choose to pump extra milk. For this, a hygienic bathroom is necessary,” she says.
Official word
Corporation Commissioner S. Visakan says that he has already directed officials to look into the situation at the MGR Bus Stand. “We will look into the other areas at the earliest,” he said.
