Breastfeeding in Public Places

All new moms will know how painful it is to breastfeed here in India. I never wanted to go out anywhere just because of this reason. Babies below 6 months are exclusively breastfed and they have very tiny stomachs so they start crying for feed very often.

Last week was world breastfeeding week. I saw big campaigns everywhere. From radio to TV we heard big big words about breastfeeding and that a mother should breastfeed her child. But what support do we have here in India.?

What is the government doing for breastfeeding moms? Where do we breastfeed? Should we be jailed for 6 months? There is no place where you can breastfeed in public places and this is the truth. When my baby used to cry for feeds in the car, I too used to feel like crying. 

With the ban on tinted glasses, anyone can look inside the car. We can say if everyone is good and we don’t have any perverts around. It’s so uncomfortable only a mom will know. People from buses and two wheelers stair inside the car.

One tip here, use pillows to cover the window. Generally use a lot of pillows or take a lot of people with you and sit in the middle of the back seat.

Wear sarees, dupattas, stoles, any amount of cover is still less.

People travelling by auto and two wheelers, I’m very sorry. I have no advice.

Always go to some place close to someone known persons house, so that worse case you can drop by.

Go to big malls. Check if the mall has a mother’s room.

Bangalore central claims to have a mother’s room, but they show you the trial room with a small stool where you can barely balance yourself leave alone the kid.

I remember going to Malabar gold a jeweler store, they had allotted a small dingy room, size of a small table and they were trying to stuff me into that space when another lady was already feeding.

All these large shops have such a small space for mothers, it’s so sad. See their priority.

I somehow hated going out itself even temples, I did not find any allocated place. But when we went to ISKON the people there were very kid to offer me a room to breastfeed.

I hate seeing these big hoarding on breastfeeding, when no one really cares.

I will work with la leche league to address these issues. Please add your inputs it will really help me in starting this campaign.

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