(Reuters) — Over 100 nursing mothers gathered in Mexico City on Saturday (August 6) to nurse their babies in a public park as part of The Global Big Latch On (La Gran Tetada) to promote worldwide breastfeeding.
The mothers gathered at Chapultepec Park in the capital city as part of an initiative to encourage nursing in Mexico where only 19 percent of babies are exclusively breast-fed at six months of age, according to UNICEF.
Despite efforts by the government to encourage breastfeeding, Mexican lactation rates are among the lowest in Latin America.
Nursing mother Carla Bezies said she found nursing to be beneficial not just for her child, but for her relationship with her baby.
“You feel more connected to your babies and empowered for giving them the best thing you can give them of yourself, not just from a nutrition point of view, but also of love, respect and of being connected to your children,” she said.
Authorities have blamed Mexico’s low breastfeeding rate on a range of factors including a high cultural regard for modesty and a lack of public space and labour laws promoting nursing.
Mexican mother Gloria Marquez said she has had people complain about seeing her nurse.
“They tell me, ‘You are giving me a complex by doing that (nursing).’ Well, if you don’t like seeing me, turn around! But the truth is that I do it anywhere completely naturally. It doesn’t matter if I’m working. It doesn’t matter if I’m in a park or shopping. To me, the best thing is to give her what she is asking for when she asks for it.”
The Mexico City event included information tents, lactation advocates and activists who have launched a campaign to extend maternity leave to 18 months, increase space in both public areas and work sites for nursing mothers and require employers to give mothers time to express milk.
The World Health Organization recommends babies should be fed breast milk alone for six months, and continue receiving breast milk along with solid food up to two years and beyond.
The Mexico City event was scheduled to coincide with the UN’s World Breast-feeding Week from August 1 through 7, 2016.
The Big Latch On was begun in 2005 in New Zealand, according to Women’s Health Action that has said that as many as 14,536 babies in 28 countries have participated in one year.