First-time MP and proud new mother Donatella Poretti is flying the flag for working moms throughout Italy, claiming the right to breast-feed her daughter in parliament.
"I need a room with the bare minimum to feed Alice, change her diaper and let her get some rest," said Poretti, 38, in a break from voting for a new Italian president. For the time being, between one voting session and the next, Poretti is forced to leave the assembly every two hours or so, using a corner of the House infirmary to give two-month-old Alice her regular dose of mother's milk.
Poretti, a Florentine journalist elected for the Radical Party, has written to new House Speaker Fausto Bertinotti in the hope of having a baby-care room added to the array of plush facilities in the hulking building.
"A parliamentary creche would be an important signal for the rest of the country, for all the moms who have to choose between work and taking care of their babies". According to the Italian Society of Paediatricians (SIP), eight out of ten mothers choose to breast-feed their babies but the majority have to give up when they go back to work after a three-month maternity leave.
"We're lagging behind other European countries in terms of work creches and baby-care rooms," said SIP President Giuseppe Saggese.
Maria Rita Munizzi, president of children's rights organisation MOIGE, said: "Every woman has the right to breast-feed and every child has the right to their mother's milk".
"But in Italy these rights are hard to claim, even in prestigious workplaces like parliament".
"Because of the serious shortage of facilities, most women are forced to choose between their work and their children," Munizzi said.
"That's why Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in the world and such a small number of women in work".
The Higher Health Institute says it is aware of the problem and has set a target of 90% of moms being able to breast-feed for as long as their milk lasts.
"I'm not asking for special treatment," Poretti said.
"All me and Alice want is a place for ourselves - a solution to a problem that faces millions of working mothers".
