Private practices in public spaces: research into spatial cues supporting breastfeeding in the Nijmegen-Arnhem region of the Netherlands

Abstract

What features of the physical environment may support women to breastfeed in the public space? Based on in-depth interviews with eight women who were breastfeeding during the research period, this article explores this question. Three factors were examined as contributing to the comfort of nursing women in public space: peer support, a sense of protection, and cultural signifiers. Using five scales of physical attributes, tested through a visual research tool, a range of public spaces were examined to give insight into the features that contribute to women’s ability and willingness to nurse in them. The results show that a sense of place attachment does not affect women’s willingness to breastfeed; that physical comfort is desired, but can be waived aside; that physical shelter is important; that peers (in the form of other parents) or their expected presence, form a strong source of support; and that perceived formality, or work-related context, is the strongest deterrent reported to breastfeeding. I conclude that using private sphere attributes in public spaces could make them more accessible to the practice of breastfeeding.

Keywords:

• breastfeeding barriers
• breastfeeding in public
• lactation advocacy
• lactivism
• public/private dichotomy
• public space

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Petra Doan for inspiration and support, Karel Martens for his assistance during the revisions, the reviewers of Gender, Place and Culture for their meticulous and constructive comments, and my children for providing me with hands-on experience about breastfeeding in public spaces. But more than all, thanks are due to the women who shared their experiences and insights during the interviews for this research.

Notes on contributor

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tamy Stav

Tamy Stav has a PhD in urban and regional planning (from the Technion, Israel), and has been working as a researcher and teacher of planning in the past decade in the Netherlands (Radboud University, Nijmegen) and in Israel, as well as working as a consultant on various projects. Her research is on inclusive public spaces, diverse populations, and gender equality in planning. She is currently manager of the Urban95cm program, which focuses on planning for early childhood, in the Urban Clinic of the Hebrew University.