Breastfeeding in public is still a challenge in India, with only 6% of mothers finding designated areas to comfortably nurse their children, according to a pan-India survey by Momspresso.com.
In a five-minute, web-link based survey, 900 mothers were surveyed, 77% of whom were in the 25-to-35-year age group while the remaining 23% were in age group of 36 to 45 years.
Women have fed their babies in their own car (90%), public transport (78%), restaurants (56%), car parking (49%), trial rooms (47%), washrooms (44%), religious places (41%), parks (32%) and breastfeeding rooms (6%). The most awkward places are a broom closet room in an airport, under a tree, the waiting room of the passport office, bank queues, washrooms, a bench in a mall, and a bus stop. Around 81% mothers are not comfortable feeding their children in public due to the lack of proper breastfeeding places. The greatest deterrents are hygiene (53%), and uncomfortable stares and lack of privacy (47%).
“While there has been extensive conversation around the benefits of breastfeeding, much less has been spoken about the actual challenges of breastfeeding at work and in public places. New mothers are intent on breastfeeding to ensure their babies get the best nutritional start possible, but they also need that intent to be supported by simple facilities,” said Parul Ohri, founding partner and chief editor, Momspresso.
The report, released on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week, is aligned to the global theme, ‘Empower Parents, Enable Breastfeeding’ that refers to collective social responsibility or a warm chain of support to create an enabling environment that empowers mothers to breastfeed optimally.
Adhunika Prakash, a mother of two, in 2013 had started a Facebook community for Pune mothers to empower them with the benefits of breastfeeding. “When I was pregnant with the first one, I started reading about breastfeeding and it really surprised me to know there were so many benefits, which was not common knowledge. So I started sending emails with fascinating facts about breastfeeding to my friends, which eventually gave birth to a Facebook community targeting Pune moms,” she said.
Eventually, the group grew into a larger space for Indian mothers. Breastfeeding Support for Indian Mothers has 1.01 lakh mothers across the country as members. The mothers are given online guidance and support from mothers across the country, Ms. Prakash said.
Last year, Facebook selected her as one among five global leaders in its community leadership programme. Of the 6,000 applications, five were chosen and Ms. Prakash was selected from the Asia Pacific for Facebook Community Leadership Program (FCLP).
Last year, a Kolkata mother sparked a controversy after a mall asked her to breastfeed at home since it was a ‘home chore’. “While many have faced uncomfortable situations in public when it comes to breastfeeding, in this incident what irked mothers was it being called a ‘home chore’. Since then, we have been raising awareness through #freedomtonurse,” Ms. Prakash said.
Normalisation of breastfeeding, she said, is very important in society. “There should be places for women to breastfeed but it should not be restricted to that. It should say that if you find it awkward in public, please come here. Also, these places should not be placed inside or outside washrooms, which would make it unhygienic and stinky.”
The reason many mothers find it uncomfortable to feed in public is the oversexualisation of breasts, said Ms. Prakash. “The media and advertisements have objectified women so much that it is difficult for most of them to think that breasts are meant to provide nutrition to babies. This problem increases with urbanisation. In villages and rural areas, breastfeeding women go about their daily work along with feeding the child; there is no embarrassment attached to it,” Ms. Prakash said.
India has a long way to go to undo the damage. “The more you feed, the more the supply. Mother’s milk is never less for her child. One has to stop falling into the advertising gimmicks,” she said.
In India, breastfeeding is inadequate, as only 55% of babies are exclusively breastfed from the ages of 0-6 months, and 41% are able to begin breastfeeding within an hour of birth. Through the hashtag #breastfeedingmothersvoices, started during breastfeeding week this year, Ms. Prakash aims to spread that information to mothers.
