Hawa Mahal: Room for mothers with feeding facility now available

Breastfeeding outside home can be uncomfortable for women and many mothers find this embarrassing. It is an accepted fact that a dedicated breastfeeding room would offer a stress free space for mothers. These days many malls do offer such a facility for the women visitors. However, when it comes to moving around the heritage places, the chances of finding one are bleak. Now this situation is to change.

For starters, Pink city's world famous Hawa Mahal has now this space-- a lactation room to the young female visitors. Those in the industry point out that this facility is currently not available at most of the tourist destinations in the country. It is a welcome idea for women who are wary of the male gaze while feeding their babies in public, they point out.

The initiative is part of Rajasthan Government’s recent steps for improving and enhancing facilities for tourists visiting public monuments in the State. The Hawa Mahal facility also has multiple toys to entertain toddlers.

The lactation room at Hawa Mahal was inaugurated the other day by a woman tourist from Ajmer, who was on a visit to Jaipur. Speaking on the occasion, Hawa Mahal's superintendent Mrs. Sarojani Chanchlani said the women visitors and the little ones with them had to face difficulties due to the absence of a lactation room. “Taking this into consideration, we have started the lactation room in our premises,” she noted. The initiative is being appreciated by the visitors, specially the females who appeared overwhelmed by the gesture.

A Welcome Spurt

It is noteworthy that in the past few months, the country had witnessed a spurt in the feeding friendly places across various cities. Kolkata's Indian Museum had taken a similar step in May 2017 by opening a nursing room where women can breastfeed or pump. In the same month, Bandra railway station became the first in the country to set up a separate room for the care of expecting or lactating mothers.

In February 2017, Nestle India had announced plans to set-up1000 private rooms in various clinics and hospitals across 150 cities of the country for this purpose. The Madhya Pradesh government is working on implementing a similar concept with the UNICEF.
It Saves Lives

Those advocate breast feeding point out that it can save around 1.8 lakh children under the age of 5 every year in India (UNICEF data). The UN body, on its part, recommends two years’ breast-feeding, with appropriate complimentary feeding for six months after birth. Among the various reasons cited for the disinclination to breast feeding, is the lack of nursing rooms. eom