As World Breastfeeding Week comes to a close today, conversations around breastfeeding have expanded beyond health and nutrition. Increasingly, mothers are speaking up about the social barriers they face—not in breastfeeding itself, but in doing it publicly.
From awkward stares in malls to being asked to cover up in various other public places, breastfeeding in public remains a deeply uncomfortable experience for many Indian mothers. And yet, for infants, breastfeeding is often an urgent, non-negotiable need—irrespective of whether there’s a private room around.
Latent support systems
For 29-year-old working mother Meher Khan, feeding her daughter at a bus stop in Delhi was the first time she realized how invisible support systems for breastfeeding mothers are. "I was drenched in sweat, trying to balance my crying baby and my dupatta while being stared at by at least ten people. No one offered help or even looked away. It was humiliating," she recalls.
Across India, public infrastructure rarely accommodates breastfeeding needs. Feeding rooms in malls or airports are often tucked away, locked, or poorly maintained. Public transport, local markets, and places of worship offer little to no privacy. This lack of safe and hygienic spaces forces mothers into a painful choice—feed their baby and risk being shamed, or simply pack up a bottle of Formula Milk, "the easy way out."
Between 2016 and 2021, early breastfeeding rates declined in 17 states across India, as per the National Family Health Survey data.
Yet, some mothers are determined to reclaim the act of feeding their child in public as a basic right.
"Breastfeeding is not an act of indecency—it is an act of survival," says Sucharita G, a mother of twins and an advocate for breastfeeding rights. “Would we ever ask someone to eat their lunch by covering up? Then why do we expect babies to be fed like that?” she asks.
Breastfeeding groups on Facebook and Instagram are gaining increasing popularity with mothers who share their stories and photos of breastfeeding in everyday spaces with hashtags like #normalizebreastfeeding and #freethenipple.
Still, not everyone feels empowered. For women in smaller towns and conservative households, the stigma runs deeper. Riya Jaiswal, a first-time mother from a semi-urban town in UP, says she avoids stepping out for more than two hours with her baby. "I have to plan outings around my baby's feeding schedule. I don't have the courage to do it in public—not because I think it's wrong, but because others do."
That fear is not unfounded. Many times, breastfeeding mothers have been asked to do so in private, citing that "open breastfeeding is disturbing."
Health impacts on the baby
Health experts emphasize that shame and stigma can have far-reaching impacts. “Delayed or skipped feeding due to social pressure can affect an infant’s nutrition and a mother’s health,” say lactation consultants.
Given that mothers already navigate so much exhaustion, postpartum changes and guilt, is it not cruel to shame them for feeding their babies? ask activists.
World Breastfeeding Week, celebrated annually from August 1–7, is themed this year around “Enabling breastfeeding: making a difference for working parents”. But for many mothers, the real difference lies in being able to nurse their child freely without judgment—whether at work, home, or on the go.
Some fathers, too, are stepping in as allies. “My wife would panic whenever our son cried in public, because she knew she’d have to feed him. I started carrying a scarf and positioning myself to block stares. People still judged, but we were a team,” says Rajiv M., a software engineer and new dad.
Slowly, things are changing. Startups are offering portable nursing covers, and some state governments have proposed "baby feeding pods" in public spaces.
While there is no specific law in India that criminalizes or prohibits breastfeeding in public, there also isn’t a comprehensive statute that explicitly protects a woman’s right to do so.
Breastfeeding: A fundamental right
However, under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, courts have interpreted this to include the right of a mother to breastfeed her child with dignity.
In 2021, the Kerala High Court made headlines when it ruled that breastfeeding is a “fundamental right” and must be protected from public scrutiny or obscenity charges. The court also held that the act of breastfeeding cannot be considered obscene under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with public obscenity.
THE WEEK spoke to Dr Arun Gupta, who founded the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) in 1991. Over nearly 32 years, BPNI has played a key role in strengthening national policies to promote, protect and support breastfeeding. "Out of approximately 22 million babies born in India each year, less than 10 million are breastfed within the first critical hour of life. That leaves over 12 million missing out on the immediate benefits of breastfeeding, which is proven to reduce the risk of infections, obesity, and non-communicable diseases later in life." He further adds how hospitals are not helping promote breastfeeding either. "A former representative of a major formula company says distributors are offered a volume bonus and doctors and nursing staff cash incentives for recommending infant formula. Evidence indicates that if the health system is weak on breastfeeding counselling, and health workers lack skills to support breastfeeding, it leads to replacement by formula even when the mother wasn’t initially keen. Heavily discounted prices on formula make it easier."