Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Breast Feeding Corner

June 1, 2011
Breast-feeding corner for MPSP headquarters
Star

THE Seberang Prai Municipal Council plans to set up a breast-feeding corner and diaper-changing room in its headquarters in Bandar Perda, Bukit Mertajam, to cater to new mothers.

Council president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said both rooms could be built on the building’s mezzanine floor, where an in-house creche was located.

“We have a few babies among the young children at our creche.

“The breast-feeding corner and diaper changing room can also be used by new mothers who visit our council building with their toddlers,” she said when chairing a full council meeting at the headquarters in Bukit Mertajam yesterday.

Maimunah said the council wanted to set a good example for other organisations, from both the public and private sectors, to set up similar rooms in their premises.

Earlier, municipal councillor Tan Cheai Peng proposed the inclusion of breast-feeding corners and diaper-changing rooms in the building plan of future public buildings.

Speaking to reporters later, she said a few shopping complexes and hospitals had already set up such corners to promote a more conducive baby-friendly environment for their customers.

“I hope such corners can be set up in other public places such as bus stations, railway stations, banks, restaurants and government departments.

“I have seen some mothers breastfeeding their babies in toilets, which is unhealthy and unhygienic,” she said.

On a different matter, fellow councillor Steven Sim Chee Keong told reporters that the council’s ad-hoc committee on Gender and the Disabled would conduct its pilot programme via two workshops.

He said a workshop titled ‘Intro-duction to Gender Equality and Good Governance in the Local Authority’ would be held at the council headquarters in Bukit Mertajam on June 16, involving the council’s heads of department and senior officers.

He said another workshop titled, ‘Awareness on the Needs of Disabled Persons’ involving surveyors, planners, engineers, architects and developers, would be held at the council headquarters on June 25 and June 26.

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