Sun-Star: Breastfeeding-friendly bus, breastfeeding room launched in Davao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A breastfeeding room at the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal (DCOTT) and a passenger bus with special seats for breastfeeding mothers by the Metro Shuttle Bus Company were launched Wednesday. The move of the Metro Shuttle Bus Company to provide reserved seats for nursing mothers made it the first-ever breastfeeding-friendly bus in the Davao Region, according to Dr. Ma. Socorro de Gracia of the Deparment of Health (DOH) Center for Health Development in Southern Mindanao. "The management of the Metro Shuttle public utility bus has agreed to provide reserved seats for nursing mothers as a gesture of full support to DOH advocacy of helping mothers, especially passengers to breastfeed their babies even in mobile situation," De Gracia noted in a press conference. She added that DCOTT likewise accepted the task as an advocate for breastfeeding by providing a breastfeeding room in the terminal. "Breastfeeding stations in the workplace and public place has gained support here in the region since the first launching of the NCCC chain of stores in August 2006," De Gracia said. Citing an NCCC report, she said 478 clients have availed their breastfeeding facilities in 2006. The number climbed up to 663 clients in 2007. She further said that Davao Region now has the highest number of breastfeeding stations in the country with 12. Meanwhile, Councilor Pilar Braga, chair of the council committee on transportation and communication, said that DCOTT is the first terminal in the country to have a breastfeeding room. "This is an accomplishment for the City of Davao," Braga said. Magno Adalin, officer-in-charge of the DCOTT, on the other hand, said that the new facility will be opened 24 hours and that there will be personnel who will be detailed in the station. "We already had talks with the Southern Mindanao Bus Operators Association (SMBOA) and the other bus lines are also willing to duplicate what Metro Shuttle has started," Adalin said. Today, there were about 50 units of Metro Shuttle bus that have reserved seats for breastfeeding mothers; all of them are air-conditioned buses. Meanwhile, if the need arises, Adalin said they are willing to expand the facility. He added that the investment for having the facility is not that much because it was funded by the City Government and that the other materials, such as toys, were donated by the Wonderland. - Joy Romares-Sevilla, Sun-Star, Davao