Mother’s Day: Kolkata’s Indian Museum to have nursing room for moms

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.

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“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, said.

“There are seating arrangements and a washroom.”

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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.

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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.