As people around the globe are celebrating World Breastfeeding Week, actress Neha Dhupia wants to start a conversation about breastfeeding and the challenges faced by nursing mothers due to lack of facilities in India
Debarati Sen (BOMBAY TIMES; August 3, 2019)

Neha Dhupia has always been known for voicing her opinions on various issues and it is no different on World Breastfeeding Week (WBW), which took off on August 1 and will conclude on August 7. While the week aims to create an awareness about the health benefits of breastfeeding infants and encourage the same, the actress has her own reasons for supporting it.

As a new mom, who is currently breastfeeding her eight-month-old daughter Mehr, Neha’s experience has been a revelation of sorts for her. Even though she has a supportive family, Neha has faced unpleasant situations due to lack of facilities when it came to breastfeeding her child in the environment that we live in.

Elaborating on this, she shares, “I remember travelling alone with my three-month-old baby in a plane. At one point, I needed to turn around and ask, ‘Hey, can I get the bathroom for 15 minutes, because I need to feed my baby.’ Inside, I was sitting there and looking up at the fasten seat-belt sign, hoping fervently that the sign doesn’t come on before my child finishes her feed. I went in saying sorry and I came out saying sorry again for occupying the washroom for so long. My point is: Why do mothers have to be apologetic about something that is so right?”

What Neha finds appalling is that when she voiced her opinion, it was met with disdain in her circle. “There were enough and more people who told me, ‘Really? You want to talk about breastfeeding?’ Come on, we are almost in 2020. There has to be noise around nursing,” she maintains.

Neha believes that breastfeeding awareness should not be restricted to just one week. “Freedom to breastfeed a child is a basic human right that every mother deserves. We need to talk about the lack of facilities, infrastructure, and the lack of awareness here in India,” she says, adding, “Mums are struggling and we need to start a conversation on that. If there are smoking rooms everywhere, why not nursing rooms? We should have places that a mother can access easily whenever she has to feed her child. It is not as if I am sitting in an ivory tower and talking about breastfeeding. I am not! I am talking just like every other mother. Breastfeeding is such a normal part of women’s lives around the world, it needs to be normalized in India, too.”

Feeling strongly about the issues pertaining to breastfeeding, Neha has started an online movement #FreedomToFeed, where moms from all over can share their experiences and struggles with breastfeeding. Narrating another incident that urged her to take up the cause, Neha shares, “Once, I was in the car feeding Mehr, when I saw a family frowning at me. I feel this attitude stems from the fact we don’t talk about breastfeeding enough. I don’t want to sound offensive, but hasn’t that family also gone through breastfeeding? People are aware of climate change, sex education, sanitary pads and toilet hygiene, because an awareness has been created around it. And this is the reason, we need to talk about breastfeeding, too. People need to be sensitised about the fact that a woman should have the freedom to feed her infant, wherever and whenever she wants to. She need not be apologetic about it, she shouldn’t be frowned upon or stared at. People need to understand that if a mother is breastfeeding publicly, she has already gone through a lot. She should be made to feel comfortable. We are heading there, but we have a long way to go.”

Neha feels that breastfeeding is one of the most special and beautiful things in the world. “I would never have figured this out till the day I became a mom myself. There is an immense sense of bonding with your child which is second to none. And you can’t feel that with anyone,” adds Neha.

The actress has already reached out to a lot of people — mom bloggers and friends — who are active on social media to support breastfeeding. “I want mothers to share their stories — kind, gentle and sometimes, painful. I will repost all the stories. The more we talk about it, the closer we will get to making a bigger difference in society,” concludes Neha.
----------------------------

MOST AWKWARD PLACES WHERE MOMS HAVE BREASTFED

Broom closet of an airport

The waiting area of a govt office

Bank queue

Crowded food court

Bench in a mall

Common washroom for men and women Crowded beach

In the employees changing room at a restaurant

The lobby of a hotel during a party

Corner of a supermarket

The waiting room of a hospital clinic

Office storeroom Bus stop

Open outdoor

Temple queue

On the pot

School’s parent-teacher meeting

During a family function

Local train

TOP MOST PLACES WHERE MOMS HAVE BREASTFEEDED THEIR CHILD

The statistics are as per a six-month-long survey, that involved 900 Indian women, conducted by Mompresso, a community of 18 million mothers