About Hirkani Room
Hirkani’s Room has been conceptualized by BPNI Maharashtra in 2007 as a facility at a workplace \ Public place for lactating mothers to express & store breastmilk. If the baby can be brought to workplace or is with the mother then mother can also breastfeed the baby in this room.
Hirkani’s room is a representation of employer’s commitment to the well-being of their employees in general & lactating mothers in particular. It shows that the workplace is Mother & Baby Friendly.
Stage I: Hirkani’s Room is a facility at a workplace \ Public place for lactating mothers to express & store breastmilk. If the baby can be brought to workplace or is with the mother then mother can also breastfeed the baby in this room. This is Stage I. If feasible the facility can be expanded to stage II & III as follows:
Stage II: Crèche where mother brings the caretaker
Stage III: Crèche with provision of caretaker by the employer
(This staging based on physical facilities has been conceptualized by BPNI Maharashtra. Staging is irrespective of lactation support that coexists. Provision of a lactation Support at the facility is desirable)
The above concept is a paradigm shift from the existing concept of starting with Stage II & III type of facility directly. However, the feasibility for the mother to bring baby to the workplace & feasibility for the employer to provide necessary space & manpower for a full-fledged Crèche are not easy to combine. Hence the concept of Hirkani’s Room in its most basic forms starts with Stage I. It is in this very basic form that many employers are most likely to provide it & a much larger percentage of mothers more likely to use it.
Hirkani’s room is a representation of employer’s commitment to the well-being of their employees in general & lactating mothers in particular. It shows that the workplace is Mother & Baby Friendly.