BENGALURU: A survey conducted by Mompresso highlights that 70 per cent of Indian mothers face challenges while breastfeeding. In Bengaluru, 16.4 per cent women say they did not receive any help - from spouses, their workplace, friends, etc - when they were breastfeeding. This is second highest after Kolkata, where 31 per cent women claim they didn’t receive any help during that time.
The sample population for the survey was taken from metropolitan cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. In total, 510 women took part in the survey, and 55 of them were from Bengaluru. The top six breastfeeding challenges faced by Indian mothers, as revealed in the survey findings, were early-day challenges such as sore and cracked nipples, latching problem, engorged breasts (34.7%), exhaustion from waking up in the middle of the night, too many feeding sessions and long feeding sessions (31.8%), issues such as baby biting (26.61%), milk supply issues (22.7%), breastfeeding in public (17.81%) and postpartum depression (17.42%).
Maria D’Rozario, mother of a three year old, breastfed her child for three-four months and had to stop thereafter, as she was suffering from postpartum depression and the child was suffering from acid reflux. She also claims that there are not enough spaces provided to mothers to breastfeed their children. “Wherever you go, to malls or even railways stations, there are not enough amenities provided to a lactating mother.”
Ekta Shah, a mother of two, says that there were minimal facilities provided in public spaces for breastfeeding ten years back, and even now, it remains a problem.
Moms prefer internet to advice from prefessionals
According to the survey, 24 per cent of women turn to the internet for expert advice on breastfeeding, which is ahead of medical advice (19.9 per cent). Ekta who had her second child seven years back, says, “Back then, breastfeeding was restricted to medical facilities and advice was given only by doctors or in hospitals.”
She adds that mothers need to be made aware of all aspects of breastfeeding. “For example, the yellow milk produced during the first few days is good for the baby - not many know this,” she adds. Apart from lack of awareness, a lot of mothers are tied down to superstitions, myths and practices surrounding breastfeeding. “Even though this is a natural process, there are a number of taboos and myths around it. There is a need to break that,” says Ekta.