New law forces mums to breastfeed for two years

The Emirates' Federal National Council has passed a mandatory breastfeeding clause as part of their new children’s rights legislation.

 

The new measures require mums to breastfeed their babies for two years; something their husbands can now sue them for if they fail to do it.

 

According to reports, there was a “marathon debate” over the issue, but in the end it was decided that it is a child’s right to be breastfed.

 

While there are definite benefits to breastfeeding, many new mums are not able to nurse. In cases where a mum can’t breastfeed due to medical reasons, the council says it will provide her with a wet nurse.

 

Details of these measures have not been provided yet. For example, it’s not known how a woman’s ability to breastfeed will be determined. It’s also not known who will pay the wet nurse, where she will be from or where she will stay.

 

Mums are already under severe pressure to breastfeed and Dubai-based group Out of the Blues worries these measures will result in a rise in post-natal depression.

 

A representative from the PND support group wrote: “New mothers are extremely vulnerable and need more support, encouragement and education. It is our opinion that, while encouraging women to breastfeed is a laudable aim, it is by supporting those who can and want to breastfeed, and not by punishing those who can’t, that we will reap the benefits we all want to see in our society.”