What India can learn from a breastfeeding Australian senator

A senator made history in Australia this week with a perfectly natural act — breastfeeding her baby. On Mother’s Day, Sunday Times looks at how an increasingly squeamish India is making life difficult for nursing moms
On Tuesday, senator Larissa Waters became the first parliamentarian to breastfeed in the Australian parliament . The photo, showing her cradling the newborn while taking part in a vote, has gone viral. Other countries too have broken breastfeeding barriers.Last year, Icelandic MP Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir discussed an immigration bill while breastfeeding her daughter. Spanish politician Carolina Bescansa brought her 5-month-old into the chamber of parliament because he needed to be fed.
In India where a generation ago it was common to see young mothers nursing their babies on railway platforms, buses, trains and markets — with or without cover, there is an increasing squeamishness about women nursing in public.
Last month, Pune Mirror reported how a young mother, Swapna Kulkarni Ajgaonkar, was asked to move to a different coach after passengers on the Deccan Queen objected to her breastfeeding.
Pushed to the loo
Adhunika Prakash, founder of Breastfeeding Support for Indian Moms, an online peer group with more than 40,000 members, recalls an incident at a posh restaurant in Pune. "I was breastfeeding my young daughter when a staff asked me to move to the toilet. I politely refused. Maybe he felt that I would be embarrassed feeding in the open. But we need to change this mindset," says Prakash.
No grown-up will agree to eat in a toilet, so why are mothers expected to nurse their babies in the loo? Mothers complain it is rare to find nursing rooms in public spaces like restaurants and airports, which otherwise take pains to create separate lounges for smoking! "I used to feed my daughter in toilet booths. I would put down the cover, clean it with sanitizer and then feed. During summers it would become stuffy and sweaty for both me and my daughter as toilets don’t have air-conditioning," recalls Sakshi Singhal (name changed), a homemaker in Delhi.
Prakash says the problem is that breasts have been over-sexualised by the media. "They are being used to sell everything from cement to condoms. Breasts are meant to feed infants but now people view them as an object of sexual gratification. That’s why if they see a woman feeding in the open they take offence," says Prakash.
Hitting the bottle
The latest National Family Health Survey-4 data shows that in India only 55% of infants were exclusively breastfed for the first six months even though the health benefits are well established through studies.
However, in the absence of safe public spaces to breastfeed, mothers are forced to use expressed or formula milk. "Because of our wrong attitudes, infants are deprived of their natural food, putting their health at risk," says Nupur Bidla, senior programme officer (communications) at Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India. She is also currently doing a PhD on challenges women face while breastfeeding in public spaces.
Moyna Chandra, a senior manager with an MNC is Bengaluru, says she never nursed her son in a public space because she felt so conscious. "I would carry expressed milk in a bottle or leave him behind at home with my in-laws," says Chandra (name changed). "Once I had to fly to Delhi and I really fretted over which seat to choose. I had to calculate the right seat that would give me maximum coverage and invisibility. Imagine doing all this just to feed a baby," she says.
Don’t shut it out
Bidla explains that girls in India are taught to cover their chest since they attain puberty. "When they become mothers suddenly they are expected to be confident and comfortable with a baby suckling. Most women are not able to get out of this social conditioning and feel shy," says Bidla. She is against creating separate spaces for nursing as it reinforces the stigma. "We need to normalise breastfeeding in public," she adds.