An Italian MP has won her battle to get a nursery installed in the House so she can breastfeed her three-month-old baby.
"I'm obviously happy with this result but I wish it had come a little sooner," said Donatella Poretti, who has had to use the House's infirmary since parliament convened three weeks ago.
Radical Party MP Poretti went as far as threatening to breastfeed little Alice in front of her fellow MPs after getting no response from two letters to House Speaker Fausto Bertinotti. Now the House administration has found a suitable room,
which until now was used by MPs' aides.
The room has been given a fresh lick of paint, fitted with air-conditioning and equipped with the basics to feed babies and change nappies in comfort. Last week Poretti, 38, made her second appeal to Bertinotti, saying doctors had told the infirmary was a health risk for a baby.
She accused MPs of double standards in speaking out about women quotas while ignoring such an everyday need. She reiterated that a parliamentary creche would be anexample for the rest of the Italian working world, where baby-care facilities are scarce.
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.
