SM Malls Harass Breastfeeding Moms

Interrupting the scheduled posts on my blog to share these two very important posts from Eliza and Ambquezada, which were in contrast to my own experience with nursing in public

From Eliza:  The Right to Breastfeed: An Open Letter to the SM Supermalls Management
From Ambquezada: An Incident in SM Davao

It is quite ironic especially since several programs have been launched this year promoting that "Breastfeeding is Welcome" in public establishments.  Plus SM Mall of Asia even hosted a photo exhibit showing breastfeeding moms all over the mall!!

So this makes me wonder why the change in policy?  Just because the mall has a breastfeeding station does not mean that the mom can ONLY BREASTFEED IN THE BREASTFEEDING STATION!  And if you think that families with kids shouldn't be exposed to breastfeeding moms, READ THIS and learn why children SHOULD witness breastfeeeding in public.

Breastfeeding mothers have the right to feed their children whenever they get hungry!! Know about your rights as a breastfeeding mother in the Philippines and stand up for them!

Breastfeeding Welcome Here!

Check out these 2 excellent programs which just launched in August!  Promoting breastfeeding anywhere, the DOH Breastfeeding Check and Breastfeeding Philippines launched their respective "Breastfeeding Welcome Here" signs!

Taken from Nanay Nona's Facebook Page
Breastfeeding Philippines' Nanay Nona, Dr. Elvira Henares and Ms. Chiqui Mabanta at Corner Tree Cafe

Taken from DOH Breastfeeding TSEK Facebook Page

Establishments can choose to get the signs either from Breastfeeding Philippines or the Breastfeeding Welcome Here Secretariat.

Breastfeed Anytime, Anywhere!

Last Tuesday, the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund/Philippines launched the Spotted: Mommy, Mama, Inay and Me, a photo exhibit to support, promote and protect exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding for a healthy child, family and community.

L.A.T.C.H. was one of the co-sponsors and I was able to get my husband Stan to take photos for the exhibit! It was no easy task since there were permits to get, schedules to coordinate BUT with Buding, Zeka and Anna at the helm of it, things fell into place and Stan was able to get wonderful photos of breastfeeding moms! I've heard to many moms say that they wish they could bring back their breastfeeding days and somehow have some memento of it. I'm proud to say that Stan has amassed more than a hundred photos of breastfeeding moms as I've emphasized that he needs to ask nursing moms if they'd like a breastfeeding photo every time he is commissioned for a family or portrait shoot.

I love the message being promoted by the exhibit - breastfeed anytime, anywhere. If we can eat anytime and anywhere we feel hungry, then there is no reason that nursing moms need to "hide" in bathroom to meet their babies' needs! The exhibit runs until 26 November 2010 at the SM Mall of Asia, Entertainment Mall (near Selecta Kids Station). Aside from Stan's photos, there are also photos taken by photography students of mothers in daycares and markets - doing their everyday activities, yet still being able to nourish their babies.

Meanwhile, I'm sharing a slideshow of "behind the scenes" photos and some of the photos not used for the exhibit.

L.A.T.C.H. has some more future projects involving photography and breastfeeding - so "LIKE" and stay tuned for further announcements in the L.A.T.C.H. FB page!

What I hope to see in breastfeeding/lactation rooms

Did you know that the Australian Breastfeeding Association gives out Baby Care Room Awards to places which provides facilities allowing moms to feed and change their babies and toddlers? You can check out the minimum requirements and the list of places with 3-5 stars in various Australian states here.

What I liked about the list is the specific requirement that the baby care room have no advertising of artificial formula or toddler follow-on formula. Here, what is being strictly implemented is the non-marketing of infant formula. However, as what I've posted before, there is no regulation against toddler formula marketing.

Meanwhile, the US doesn't give out "awards" but instead has a kit called Business Case For Breastfeeding which has been most useful to us when we started with our lactation program at work. In this kit, there is a comparison of workplace breastfeeding options from basic, advanced to state of the art! Interestingly, basic options already include (1) a private lactation room (not just a conference or storage room or a toilet!!) with an electrical outlet, chair, disinfectant wipes, lock and table; (2) breastfeeding education (e.g. pamphlets, books) and (3) milk expression time (although limited to breaktimes and lunch breaks). The other options go even further with lactation rooms having telephones and computer terminals allowing employees to work while expressing milk under the state of the art option!
Closer to home, in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, the Family Health Service of their Department of Health likewise lists down the basic essentials for a lactation room which already includes a clean private room with a sink, chair, electrical outlet and a refrigerator for storing milk! Like Australia, Hong Kong also had Babycare Room Awards given out in 2008 to "commend organizations in the private and public sectors that provided desirable babycare facilities so as to encourage mothers to choose and maintain breastfeeding." My last trip to Hong Kong was in 2008, when Naima was a 9-month old nursling. During this time, one essential staple in my bag was a print-out of places where you can breastfeed or change a baby in various areas in Hong Kong. It was certainly useful especially since Naima usually demanded to be fed in the midst of a shopping or sightseeing excursion.
In my post about SM Mall of Asia's breastfeeding station, several moms chimed in and shared their experiences and tips about other malls in Metro Manila with similar breastfeeding or private rooms where moms can feed or change their babies. We still don't have a comprehensive list of available babycare rooms and we don't even have minimum standards of what should be available in babycare rooms. I do hope that with the passage of the Expanded Breastfeeding Act, the Department of Health will come up with minimum standards for a lactation room with at least a chair, table, lock, sink and refrigerator for storing milk -- and is NOT in a toilet.

Breastfeeding stations and clinics

In 2006, SM set-up its first breastfeeding center in SM Megamall. SM currently has 24 breastfeeding stations in its various malls nationwide.  In fact, in March 2010, SM even won an Anvil Award of Merit for its Breastfeeding Program. Among the 24 stations, I've had the opportunity of using only the one in SM Mall of Asia.  It used to be located inside the main mall, near the ATMs.  I've used it several times and I really wasn't too happy.  Sure there was a private room, but it wasn't too clean.  Some moms reported that there were cockroaches and creepy crawlies there, although I've never seen any when I was using the room.  The room is quite small and once, I had to share it with another nursing mom, her yaya and her mom.  I was there with Naima and Naima's yaya and it was a tight fit for all of us.  Previously, the glass door was covered with blinds.  But some of the blinds got ripped off so management decided to use gauzy curtains instead - which to my opinion was a big mistake because I could see people lining in front of the ATM trying hard not to look inside the breastfeeding station.  If I can see them, I'm sure they can see me.  

Recently, a new wing in the Entertainment Mall opened - with shops focused on kids and families.  During a visit, I saw a "breastfeeding station and mall clinic" sign.  I was pleased that there was going to be a 2nd station.  But, it turned out, they were closing down the old clinic.  Now, with 390,193 m² of retail space, Mall of Asia is not exactly small.  I'm happy that they have 1 breastfeeding station but was actually hoping that they would maintain 2 - one for each wing.  Plus - what I didn't like about this breastfeeding station is that it is located inside the mall clinic!  Sure there was a nurse on duty all the time and the breastfeeding room was enclosed with walls and a real door.  But before you get to the breastfeeding room, you'd have to pass through the clinic examination area.  Seriously, would you want to bring your baby to an area where there is a possibility for him/her to be in close contact with sick people?!

To give them credit, the room was better furnished than the old breastfeeding station.  There were 2 sofas and some plastic chairs.  Plus there was a clean sink, with thermos.  What I didn't like was that when not in use, the breastfeeding room was being used as a stockroom.  You can see from the photo that wheelchairs, extra toilet papers and boxes are being stored there. 

Also, the new breastfeeding was cleaner.  I told the nurse on duty about my observations and she admitted that the breastfeeding room now was better maintained than the old breastfeeding station because there were doctors and nurses constantly in the room - thus, maintenance cleaned it more often.  

The nurse also mentioned that they had brought up with SM Management  the issue of having a breastfeeding room inside the clinic.  SM Management was non-committal on whether they would be transferring the breastfeeding room to a separate location.  But from the looks of the breastfeeding room and the set-up in other SM malls, I would think that SM Management is planning to combine breastfeeding rooms with their mall clinics permanently.  I hope SM Management will realize the importance of why breastfeeding rooms and clinics should be in separate rooms.  The SM's breastfeeding program is laudable but there just has to be some tweaks to make their rooms responsive to the nursing mom's needs.

Nursing at the NAIA 1

Thanks to Nikki B for the heads-up!

Breaking news from the Inquirer: The Manila International Airport Authority opened today the "country’s first airport-based infant feeding station at NAIA Terminal 1 for departing and arriving passengers and their very young children."

Actually, we already have a breastfeeding station at the Davao International Airport. The opening of another one in a Manila airport is very welcome! So what's great about the MIAA feeding station?
1. It's airconditioned, with 4 cubicles, cots and comfort chairs
2. Right across Duty Free
3. comes with amenities like hand sanitizers, a water dispenser, bottle warmer and first-aid supplies.

What's not so great about it? You can only use the cubicle to feed your baby for up to one hour. What if you have a snacker?! The feeding station has a waiting area with cable television. So do they expect you to go to the waiting hour when your hour is up, then back again? Hmm... in that case, I think Naima and I are better off nursing at the regular waiting area without having to move after 1 hour.

Anyway, the feeding station is at Gate 16 and to use the facility, the passenger needs to show his or her passport and boarding ticket and fill up a registration logbook. This feeding station is planned to be replicated at the other NAIA terminals operated by the MIAA. Hopefully, every airport in the Philippines will soon have a feeding station as well.

Great News for the New Year!

Last news for 2009

The last news I read about breastfeeding in 2009 was about Taiwan's government who will be drafting a bill to protect the rights of the nursing mothers in public. The fine is NT30,000 or almost US$1,000.00.

Such a similar law would be welcome in the Philippines and more so in North American countries. I did say before that Filipino moms should not have to worry much about nursing in public. But recently, with now that Naima is a noisy 2-plus toddler, I sometimes get those "looks" whenever she nurses in public -- which thankfully is not very often.

I am unsure if there are any other Asian countries who are proposing to fine harassers of breastfeeding moms. Kudos to the Taiwanese government for responding to the calls of nursing moms.

First news for 2010

I was pleasantly surprised to read about breastfeeding in a business news website. The article, written by a HealthDay reporter, summarizes the breastfeeding benefits for both mom and baby. Dr. Ruth Lawrence, Chairman of the American Academy of Pediatricians' section on breastfeeding emphasizes how breastfeeding experts focus on "brain growth [and its importance] for a number of years," while those from the formula industry "focus more on how much weight babies can gain with their product."

This will be an exciting 2010. L.A.T.C.H. has several activities lined up (including trainings for more counselors). At my workplace, we are looking forward to the opening of more lactation rooms. Looking forward to more great breastfeeding news!

The Challenges of Nursing a Toddler

Painting by Jonahmar Salvosa of Velvet Escario-Roxas, nursing her eldest daughter J.Hye

Now that Naima is a walking, talkative toddler, I've been hearing a lot of those "up to when will you nurse her" questions and comments. Several oldies had suggested that I wean Naima when she started walking. Others are surprised upon seeing Naima's full set of teeth (she has about 16 now) and ask me if Naima ever bites when she nurses (she doesn't).

When the Milk Code was first enacted, milk companies were required to put this statement on their products: "Breastfeeding is best for babies up to 2 years." However, despite this requirement, members of my generation were most formula-fed babies. Formula milk marketing was so widespread and pervasive. In fact, I can still remember the theme songs of these milk companies when promoting their products! The wording of the required warning was eventually changed to "Breastfeeding is best for babies for 2 years and beyond."

However, despite this 2-year age minimum, several friends, acquaintances, relatives are still amazed that I continue to breastfeed Naima at 21 months. In the early days, I myself did not think that I would be able to sustain breastfeeding beyond 1 year. At her 1^st birthday, I wasn’t ready to stop and I didn’t think that she was yet so I extended my goal to 2 years old. Now that Naima’s 2^nd birthday is fast approaching, I don’t think that she will be weaning anytime soon. So, I’ve decided to continue breastfeeding Naima when we are together and just wean from the pump by the end of this year.

Breastfeeding trials are not limited during the early days of breastfeeding. Nursing a toddler also presents its own unique challenges. My current pet peeve with Naima is twiddling. Every time she nurses, she loves to twiddle my other nipple, given the chance. Nursing during the day is not so problematic since she is awake and immediately removes her hand when I tell her. But nursing when she is half-awake is beginning to be difficult. I always remove her hand but she struggles and puts her hand back to my other boob. If I cover the other breast, she whines and moves about, disturbing an otherwise peaceful nursing setting.

Naima is also now enjoying solids – very much! She eats frequently and drinks less and less milk. She also has irregular nursing sessions e.g. no more schedules. She nurses whenever she pleases which could be every hour or in intervals of 5 hours! This is why I always take her with me wherever I go during weekends as I never know when the nursing mood strikes her. This leads to another challenge à trying to nurse in public. When Naima was younger, I use a nursing cover when we had to nurse in public. But now that Naima is a wriggly toddler, she refuses to nurse under a cover and wants to see my face when nursing. Happily, I’ve gotten over my issues about nursing in public, although now that she’s a toddler I’ve been more conscious of unwanted comments from other people.

Nursing a toddler certainly has challenges. But every time we cuddle, Naima nurses and touches my face, I can’t bear the thought of weaning her yet. I really look forward to our nursing sessions, especially since I work out of home and am away from her about 10 hours a day. These sessions are our quiet bonding sessions. At this time, I certainly don’t look forward to the day when Naima will simply stop asking for “MIK, MIK, MIK.”

Why Worry About NIP?

Welcome to the Carnival of Breastfeeding for June.

Theme for this month is Nursing in Public. Please check out the other contributing bloggers linked at the bottom of this post. :)

My opinion is that anybody offended by breastfeeding is staring too hard. ~David Allen

One of the most talked about issues that breastfeeding moms have to contend with is NIP -- or nursing in public. I briefly mentioned my experience in a previous post about swimming pools. However, I've realized that nursing in public in the Philippines is not really as bad as in other Western countries.

During Naima’s 1st 2 weeks, I wasn’t shy about nursing in front of other people. I nursed in front of my aunt, cousin, uncle, my aunt’s best friend, her husband, etc. etc. At that time, I was more concerned with Naima gaining weight, my having to deal with sore nipples and making sure that I was producing enough milk. However, I do remember a conversation I had with my aunt and female cousin about how other people wouldn’t be as tolerant of me nursing in public as they were (since we were related). I asked why and my aunt just told me, it’s just how it is – people will think you are committing indecent exposure if you nurse in front of other people.

Fast forward to Naima at about 4 months (because in the 1st couple of months, I didn’t leave the house so I didn’t have to deal with nursing in public). When I started going out, I invested in a nursing bib and some good nursing tops. Initially, I always sought a private place to nurse Naima. I soon became *brave* enough and nursed her in public but used the nursing bib. However, as Naima became old enough to be curious about her surroundings, she began to hate the nursing bib and always struggled to get it off her. Eventually, I learned that for us to get a decent nursing session, I needed to nurse her without a cover.

I'm happy to report that despite my misgivings, nursing in public in the Philippines has fairly been uneventful. I haven't heard of any mom who nursed in public being sued for indecent exposure. Philippine law on indecent exposure refers to a general provision punishing a person who offends against decency or good customs by committing any highly scandalous conduct (Art. 200 of the Revised Penal Code). Given the definition and elements of the crime of "grave scandal," I don't think anybody would charge a mom who is nursing in public with this crime. Equating nursing in public with indecent exposure or grave scandal would demonize the complainant and make him/her news fodder.

Generally, the Filipino public doesn't really mind if you nurse in public. For one, we don't have a concept of personal space. So no one complains that you are violating their morals if you are "showing your breasts" by nursing in public. Second, Filipinos are generally good-natured and prefers to avoid confrontation. We call this "pakikisama" and thus, in my experience, people who are uncomfortable with me nursing in public tend to just look away instead of coming up to me and telling me to cover up. Also, moms and babies are considered special and need extra understanding, care and support - so the Filipino trait of "pagbigyan" (or let them be) also comes to play.

One good thing I noticed here is that there has been renewed interest and support for breastfeeding. Several malls have established breastfeeding rooms and we even have a breastfeeding bus in Mindanao! I think politicians have found that this is a very good platform which would make them look good. Recently, a German woman was even declared as the Philippine breastfeeding queen. To be honest, I find it strange why a German was chosen when there are in fact a lot of other Philippine advocates who are equally deserving of this title.

I've been reading articles about horrible experiences of other moms, especially Western moms, about nursing in public. Despite being irritated by the lack of personal space, pagbigyan and the pakikisama system, when it comes to nursing in public, I can happily say that these idiocracies/Filipino cultural traits have their good uses.

Check out the posts of the other carnival participants:
Lucy & Ethel Have a Baby: Nursing in Public (Boobs) Out and Proud
PhD in Parenting: Nursing in public (a breastfeeding parody of Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss)
Dirty Diaper Laundry: Breastfeeding in Public – Talents – I haz it
kim through the looking glass: Here? At the restaurant?
Grudgemom: Nursing in a room full of people you know
MumUnplugged: Aww, is he sleeping?
Massachusetts Friends of Midwives: Chinatown, the Subway, the Vatican, and More
Mother Mary’s Soapbox: Breastfeeding Oriana
Tiny Grass: Nursing in Public as an Immigrant
Mommy News & Views: Breastfeeding in Public
Breastfeeding 1-2-3: To Cover or Not to Cover
Stork Stories: Little Old Men... & Nursing in Public
Warm Hearts Happy Family: Breastfeeding and the Summertime
Blacktating: Thank You for Nursing in Public
Mama Knows Breast: Products that can help you breastfeed in public
babyReady: A wee NIP in the park
Tales of life with a girl on the go: Planes, trains and automobiles - we've breastfed in them all
The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog: Get kicked off a bus for nursing in public? Here's how to respond
Breastfeeding Moms Unite: Nursing in Public: A Fresh Perspective on Nurse-ins
Pumpease: Breastfeeding Hats? YES! Nursing Covers? Uh... Not So Much
Breastfeeding Mums: What's a Breastfeeding Mother To Do!!
HoboMama: Easy, discreet way to breastfeed a toddler in public