Kolkata's Indian Museum to have nursing room for mothers

Days after an Australian Senator made history by becoming the first politician to breastfeed in Parliament, the Indian Museum here is set to create a milestone on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 14) by launching a lactation room for mothers, an official said on Thursday.

The 'Mother and Child Room' (Lactation Room) is a facility on the ground floor of the country's oldest museum, where nursing mothers can take a little rest in a private space while breastfeeding their child.

"Over a period of time we observed that young mothers, who visited the museum with lactating infants, had certain requirements and needed a separate space. As far as I know, no other museum in India has such a facility for mothers," Jayanta Sengupta, Director-in-charge, Indian Museum, told IANS

"There are seating arrangements and a washroom."

The new facility is part of ongoing efforts to make the museum more inclusive and friendlier to people with various challenges.

Larissa Waters, from the left-wing Greens party, breastfed her two-month-old daughter Alia Joy during a vote in the federal Senate chamber on Tuesday.

Institutions such as Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington and the Field Museum in Chicago have nursing rooms where women can breast feed or pump.

--IANS

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