On a whim, I thought I would send off this letter. I felt really disgusted with the experiences these ladies had to go through just to care for their babies. What’s worse is that Malaysian female politicians could care less about important matters like this. Instead, they choose to concentrate on…well, I have no idea because it doesn’t seem like any of them care enough about women and family matters to even say something about it!

I would have written more but I figured that this was enough…

Dear Editor,

I thought I would share some experiences and thoughts that I was privy to when discussing about the experiences of breastfeeding working mothers. These ladies are heeding the advice of doctors and of the government by breastfeeding their babies. To them, every drop of breastmilk is precious and important for the health and well-being of their children. However, many of them, though supported by doctors and the government, are not supported by parts of society, namely companies and businesses as well as members of the public.

One lady mentioned that she was told off by the management of her company for wanting to express breastmilk. Their words were that they did not pay her to express breastmilk at the office. Other ladies were told that they would be disturbing their colleagues. Another was told that the company policy did not allow for breaks for breastfeeding because it was unproductive. I find the attitude taken by these companies to be shameful, to say the least!

These are unfounded excuses and I ought to know because I have worked with colleagues who express breastmilk at the office for over a year. I even sat next to one! She would express breastmilk under her table, away from prying eyes for 10 to 15 minutes and at four hour intervals, which amounts up to three times maximum through her working hours. Those of us who sat around her or next to her had no idea that she was expressing milk. In fact, there was an incident where one of us thought she had gone to the toilet when a voice called out from under her table stating that she was there doing what we all knew she was doing. Our male colleagues have no problem with this. In fact, they were supportive of her wanting to breastfeed her baby despite working full-time.

When a breastfeeding mother travels out of the comfort of her home to a shopping mall (for example), there are little to no public amenities catering to breastfeeding. So some women resort to having to breastfeed in public in front of people. Now, there is nothing wrong with suckling a hungry baby but unfortunately, the Malaysian public stare at these women and some even berate these ladies for their actions. A lot of breastfeeding mothers I know remark that they feel uncomfortable breastfeeding in public because people stare and talk.

What is wrong with something that is natural, good AND promoted by the government? All of us have suckled from our mothers’ breasts before so why do we find it so offensive when a woman wants to suckle her baby? At least half the population has breasts and the other half has seen them, so why do we find it offensive when a woman bares part of her breast, and not even her entire breast, for her baby? In fact, some even cover up their chest while breastfeeding in public, yet people still find it offensive.

In Europe, NO ONE stares at a woman when she breastfeeds in public. Toilets in malls and public places are well equipped for breastfeeding mothers. Companies allow women to express breastmilk. Why? Because it is ridiculous to go against something that is sanctioned and promoted by the government to be good for children.

Apparently, this is not the case in Malaysia. Our government says one thing but businesses and the people do the opposite. Can our female politicians please do something about this considering that most of them are mothers as well?

Sincerely,
Mabel TEOH
Neuchatel, Switzerland

UPDATE: This letter (edited of course) was published on Sunday, 8 February…a first for me (on Sunday) and my longest…so far. XD