Mothers in Guadalajara attended public breastfeeding sessions this week, primarily to highlight the huge benefits that the practice can bring to both the health and welfare of babies.
There were 56 separate events throughout Mexico held during World Breastfeeding Week, which takes place in August for the first seven days of the month. The Guadalajara events were held in the Trompo Magico children’s museum and on the Rambla Cataluñia, the pedestrian walkway next to the University of Guadalajara Rectory.
The week is organized by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), a global network that aims to protect, promote and support breastfeeding around the world. It also works with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to get its aid to the right people in the right communities.
One of the main objectives of the “Tetadas Masivos,” as the events are referred to here, is to dispel the widespread myths that surround breastfeeding in Mexico. According to Aida Apodaca, one of the organizers of the event at the Trompo Magico, these include the fear that constant breastfeeding will make a mother’s milk supply dry up and that it will cause the child to be less independent as he/she grows up.
According to UNICEF Mexico Director Catalina Gómez, only 30 percent of mothers in Mexico breastfeed their babies during their first six months.
Another grouse of mothers taking part in the two events was the lack of public spaces to breastfeed without being harassed.
As of July, it became legal for nursing mothers to breastfeed in public in all 50 states in the United States. Mexico has yet to pass any legislation on the issue and reports of cases of mothers being told to cover up (or leave) by security guards in public spaces are commonplace.