THE absence of breastfeeding corners in public spaces has become a systemic failure undermining maternal dignity and child nutrition. Despite a High Court directive issued in 2023 that ordered the installation of breastfeeding corners in all public places, workplaces, transport hubs and commercial establishments, the provision remains almost entirely elusive. Reports indicate that no functional, accessible facility is available in major terminals, shopping malls or even the international airport, leaving lactating mothers without safe, private spaces to feed their infants. Their experiences show a pattern of daily distress. Mothers are compelled to travel with their babies, unable to find a single public location to breastfeed and forced to endure discomfort, anxiety and, at times, public humiliation. The Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation has attributed this inadequacy to official indifference, warning that its consequences will span across generations. The shortage of breastfeeding spaces is emerging at a time when exclusive breastfeeding is already declining although it is essential for preventing early childhood illnesses and ensuring optimal development during the first six months of life. This infrastructural neglect now stands as a critical public-health concern with far-reaching implications.
The shortage of breastfeeding corners is not a peripheral inconvenience but a public-health deficit with measurable consequences. Exclusive breastfeeding rates have already fallen to 55 per cent, down from about 65 per cent in 2017–18, reflecting a regression at a time when global health agencies emphasise its irreplaceable role in preventing diarrhoea, pneumonia and long-term metabolic diseases. This decline is unfolding alongside a sharp rise in unnecessary Caesarean deliveries, now 45 per cent nationally, far exceeding the World Health Oragnisation’s recommended 10–15 per cent, which further disrupts early lactation without adequate post-operative support. A weak enforcement of the Breastmilk Substitutes Act 2013, coupled with aggressive formula marketing and the unethical inducement of health workers, has created a parallel market that fills the vacuum left by absent public facilities. Socially, the lack of breastfeeding spaces pushes working mothers into untenable choices, diminishing labour-force participation and embedding gender-based inequities in urban life. The broader implication is a generation of children entering life with compromised nutrition, increasing the burden on an already strained health system. An effective redress must prioritise the enforcement of laws, installation of breastfeeding corners in all public institutions, maternity protection at workplaces and sustained public education to rebuild breastfeeding norms.
A coherent policy response is now required to arrest the decline in breastfeeding and address the structural gaps enabling it. Installing functional breastfeeding corners, enforcing relevant laws and ensuring adequate maternity protection are actionable steps supported by legal mandates and public-health evidence. Prioritising the measures through coordinated oversight would strengthen child-nutrition outcomes, reduce preventable health burdens and align national practice with established international standards.
