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Hirkani Kaksha gets poor response from lactating mothers
Hirkani Kaksha (room) was conceptualised by the Maharashtra unit of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, 2007, as a facility at workplaces and public places for lactating mothers to feed their babies
PUNE
Several government organisations in Pune city have adopted the Maharashtra government’s ‘Hirkani Kaksha’ or ‘baby feeding centre’ initiative to offer space to lactating mothers to feed their babies however the facilities in multiple locations have received a poor response from lactating mothers.
Hirkani Kaksha (room) was conceptualised by the Maharashtra unit of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, 2007, as a facility at workplaces and public places for lactating mothers to feed their babies. Started in May 2011 by the Nashik district health office, the concept of Hirkani Kaksha was adopted by the state and promoted across all districts as a special initiative.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), too, set up baby feeding centres at the PMC main office, and a few ward offices in the city such as one at Kamala Nehru Hospital and another at Katraj Zoo considering the number of footfalls here. However, the response of the lactating mothers to these centres is lukewarm. It is a similar scene in the Pune cantonment area. The ‘mother and baby feeding centre’ on M G Road inaugurated in 2019 does not have any takers and is lying unused.
Nitin Udhas, deputy commissioner of the PMC, said that the centres are set up for lactating mothers and children and that they should take the benefit of the facility. However, the response to these centres remains lukewarm.
Udhas said, “We have observed that new mothers refrain from going to public places with newborn children. When it comes to government offices which have a lot of public visiting on a daily basis, these mothers avoid coming due to fear of infection. Also due to fear of infection, market areas, public places and government offices are last on the list of visiting places for new mothers. The new mothers with the babies come only to government offices in cases where there is no other option. That too, the number actually using the facility is negligible.”
The Aundh District Hospital, being a public hospital, has had a Hirkani Kaksh for almost a decade. “It has been several years since the set up was made for the patient’s relatives and public coming to the hospital. The response to the centre is lukewarm. We don’t keep a record of mothers taking the benefit of the centre. On an average, around four to five lactating mothers take advantage of the centre. The awareness regarding such a facility being made available to the public is less. However, we have put up boards at different locations of the hospital about the centre,” said Nagnath Yempalay, district civil surgeon.
