Mumbai: Civic gardens may soon get baby feeding rooms

Breastfeeding – something that many mothers need to do but most are uncomfortable doing it in the public. To help such mothers avoid negative breastfeeding experiences because of the lack of privacy, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is mulling constructing baby feeding rooms inside civic gardens across Mumbai.

The proactive plan is the brainchild of Shiv Sena corporator and chairman of the Market and Garden Committee, Yamini Jadhav. According to the proposed plan, a small room will be constructed inside gardens to provide much-needed privacy to mothers for breastfeeding.

"I came across this issue during my talks with various women in the city. They voiced their concerns over the difficulty faced while attempting to breastfeed their children. So I staged a meeting with the BMC officers and tabled this thought," Jadhav said. She claimed to have written a letter to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta, seeking his approval regarding the plan that will benefit hundreds of mothers.

Speaking to dna, a senior BMC officer said such baby feeding rooms were already in existence in foreign nations, including Europe, the US and some countries of southeast Asia. "The plan is simple. We need not construct rooms. We can even install a small porta-cabin in the garden area. A couple of recliner sofas can be arranged, with provision for in-house toilets and other facilities such as drinking water and waste bin," he explained.

According to the officer, most parks and gardens, and even some of the cafes in London, have been designed keeping mothers in mind. Some of the popular gardens that the BMC officials looked at included Kew Gardens, Clapham Common, and Wimbledon Park.