‘MomPowerment’

I still can't believe how I describe myself as a mom-in-the-making when someone asks me who I am instead of using any catchwords, like I used to do even one year ago. Being a first time mother possibly overshadowed every bit of me and gave me a new identity in the coolest possible way. I now do anything and everything to ensure the wellbeing of my little one and I definitely know that in this world noone can do this job better than me. I'm sure every mother feels this way and this realisation gives us enormous strength and willpower. But, does our society and surroundings give enough effort to make us feel empowered during motherhood?

I'm a breastfeeding mom. I stand by my decision to exclusively breastfeed my daughter till her sixth month and continue up to two years. Living abroad comes with various regrets but one thing I'm absolutely grateful about is the option to feed her whenever she demands when I'm outside. All I need to pack is a nursing cape in the diaper bag & I'm good to go (that cape is as powerful as any superhero cape I tell you!). I would definitely know no matter where I'm going I'll find a nursing room nearby, and even if I fail to locate one no one will give me a judgemental look finding me feeding my daughter under the cape. 

I plan to visit my beloved Dhaka city with my daughter very soon. While planning I tried to locate nursing rooms around Dhaka city, so that I can be the old Anika going anywhere with my friends and family and not being tensed about feeding my daughter. Unfortunately I couldn't find any. We have huge shopping malls, massive office blocks but a small space couldn't be spared to build a nursing room. 

Bangladesh claims to have one of the highest rates of breastfeeding success, yet it comes with a cost for city moms. If she decides to exclusively breastfeed her child and doesn't want to introduce bottle or formula early, she has to stay confined. Though postpartum depression is not well recognised in our country, it exists. To fight it, a mother needs to feel that she has not lost her sanity, she can get back to her previous life anytime she wants. To ensure she has her options and to make her life easier, the society and our policymakers need to step up. If we are campaigning for breastfeeding, we need to make sure we have infrastructure to provide the environment. It doesn't take much to leave tiny spaces for nursing rooms in shopping malls or important office buildings. The government can come up with some public breastfeeding policies so that mothers have the courage to ignore all the judgemental eyes. The website Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation doesn't cater Bangladeshi mothers' queries enough; their FAQ section is full of copied-pasted lines of different breastfeeding associations around the world. The number of NGOs and government agencies working with breastfeeding awareness campaigns is incredible; but we also have to provide solid platforms to mothers (especially city mothers) to make these campaigns successful – ample amount of nursing rooms in the city and concrete policies on public breastfeeding can be the foundation.

Keep the mothers happy; they will raise happy children.