Should buses have a ‘lactation area’ for breastfeeding women? They do in China

Public breastfeeding is an emotionally-charged topic of debate in the West. On one side of the camp are those who feel it is a natural practice that should be allowed within plain sight of men and women alike, despite the sexualized nature of breasts. On the other side are those who feel breasts should not be exposed to the public, under any circumstances.

Some public and private institutions in Canada try to overcome this dichotomy by offering mothers a private space to breastfeed their babies, such as a nursing room in mall bathrooms or train stations.

Similarly, the Chinese city of Zhengzhou has taken this idea one step further and introduced "lactation areas" on its public buses. The semi-private seats are curtain-enclosed areas, where a mother can breastfeed her baby away from the stares of other passengers.

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Since the demands of a baby can come on rather unexpectedly and suddenly, having a private space eliminates what many mothers feel as the urgency to breastfeed out in the open.

"We set up this special nursing seat considering the inconvenience and embarrassment mothers may feel when they need to feed babies on a bus. This proposal was put forward by one of our bus drivers," Yang Chaoqun, a spokesperson for Third Company of Zhengzhou Bus Communication Corporation, tells Parent Herald.

The Zhengzhou buses have emerged following campaigns in China this year to promote breastfeeding in a country where the latest available statistics from 2008 show the rate of exclusive breastfeeding a baby under six months at just 28 per cent. By comparison, Health Canada's latest statistics from 2010 show only 25.9 per cent of Canadian mothers exclusively breastfed their last child for the recommended 6 months or longer.

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Earlier this year, UNICEF launched a campaign to promote the use of public spaces for breastfeeding. And China.org reports that mothers have recently called for employers to provide private locations at worksites to allow them to pump their breast milk.

In the city of Shanghi, breastfeeding moms can also make use of a mobile phone application to help mothers locate the nearest nursing room in office buildings, shopping malls and other public buildings, reports the Parent Herald.

What are your thoughts on the public breastfeeding debate? When and where should women be allowed to breastfeed in public?