By Lubna Naz
鈥淒uring my shift, there is nowhere to breastfeed and no extra time during breaks,鈥 said a lactating mother employed in the retail sector. 鈥淏y the time I get home, my baby is crying with hunger. I have no choice but to leave her with a milk bottle, which breaks my heart.鈥
Her words echo in factories, offices, and classrooms across Pakistan, where mothers are often forced to choose between their newborn鈥檚 nutrition 鈥 crucial in the early months 鈥 and maintaining a livelihood.
The reality is stark: only 48 per cent of infants under six months in the country are exclusively breastfed, far below the global target of at least 70pc. According to Unicef, this shortfall is directly linked to high rates of stunting (low height for their age, resulting from chronic poor nutrition, repeated infections, and inadequate care, particularly during the first 1,000 days of life), 37pc, and wasting (a severe form of malnutrition where a child is dangerously thin for their height, indicating recent and severe weight loss), 7p