Breastfeeding Athletes Will Now Be Given This Perk At The Paris Olympics
Muslim mother is breast-feeding her babyThroughout the years we’ve seen very limited, if any, allowances for breastfeeding women. On top of that, traditionally, children are not allowed inside the athletes’ village where participants stay during the Olympic Games.
But — since French judo star Clarisse Agbegnenou has been campaigning for the needs of new mothers in sports to be taken care of, Paris Olympics have now made an allowance for breastfeeding mothers.
In the huge move, French sportswomen will now be given the option of hotel rooms in close proximity to the brand new 10,000 population athletes village, in the suburb of Saint-Ouen in the north of Paris.
The move means mothers can use the room to sleep next to their infants, or they can offer the room to their partners. There will also be a special social area for kids.
“It’s unprecedented and it’s something we want to become permanent, so that’s not a one-off because it’s the Olympics in Paris,” said Astrid Guyart, the French Olympic Committee secretary general, according to Women’s Health.
Though a rare move, similarly during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Canadian basketball player Kim Gaucher, who was breastfeeding her infant daughter, won in her quest to bring the baby to the Tokyo Olympics, which she called “the right decision for women in sports.”
The International Olympic Committee announced that nursing mothers would be allowed to bring their babies to Tokyo. The move came after Gaucher made an emotional plea via Instagram to have 3-month-old Sophie travel with her to the Games.
The decision shows that progress, although slow, is being made in catering to the needs of new mothers in sport.
