The Lifelong Struggle of Sustaining a Breastfeeding Advocacy Organization
The Scope of Our Mission
Our mission is broad but essential: to ensure every mother has accurate information, support, and protection from profit-driven baby food companies. However, we face powerful commercial interests and widespread misinformation. When policymakers dismiss our work by saying women will breastfeed anyway, it underscores the deep-rooted challenges. The battle to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding is not just fought in the minds of mothers but also in the corridors of government and health professionals in the maternal and child care. The influence of the infant formula industry, which undermines breastfeeding advocacy, cannot be underestimated.
Financial Struggles: The Fight for Funding
One of the most pressing challenges is financial sustainability. BPNI relies on government grants and personal donations, adhering to a strict policy of not accepting funds from organizations with conflicts of interest. Securing resources has become increasingly difficult. In 2021, when we completed 30 years, we found that we had spent around $6 million, 93% of which came from outside India, primarily from European governments and the United Nations. Donors often prefer projects with immediate, visible outcomes, while breastfeeding advocacy is a long-term investment with results that are not instantly quantifiable.
Although breastfeeding rates have begun to rise after decades of decline, largely due to the Infant Milk Substitutes Act of 1992 and its 2003 Amendment (IMS Act), securing funding remains a struggle. Despite being officially notified by the government to carry out this work, support has been minimal or non-existent.
Advocacy Challenges
Advocating for breastfeeding-supportive policies requires constant vigilance. Even with policies like the IMS Act in place, enforcement remains a challenge. Monitoring violations, raising awareness, and pushing for accountability demand resources and a committed network, which is difficult to maintain in a world where volunteers and activists are increasingly stretched thin.
Cultural norms and misconceptions about breastfeeding present additional challenges, burdened with myths. Addressing these requires sustained education and skilled counselling—areas in which the government also needs to invest. Implementing well-accepted norms in hospitals, for example, is a challenge in itself, perhaps due to other government priorities. Breastfeeding is everyone’s responsibility and, at the same time, no one’s. Another area recognized by the government—six months’ maternity leave for women in the organized sector—has yet to find a suitable law for the unorganized sector, which comprises the majority of workers.
Human Resources: The Heartbeat of the Organization
At the core of BPNI’s efforts are passionate individuals dedicated to the cause. However, retaining such people is challenging. The work is demanding and often unrewarded, can lead to burnout and instability within the organization.
The Resilience to Continue
Despite these challenges, BPNI’s work is too important to abandon. The benefits of breastfeeding—for the child, the mother, and society—are well-documented. We persevere because we believe in every woman and child’s right to breastfeed. We press on because successful breastfeeding has a ripple effect on public health, the economy, and social well-being. Significant reductions in the annual sales of powdered baby foods and their slow growth, and eventual rise in breastfeeding rates keep us alive with hope.
In conclusion, sustaining an organization like BPNI is no easy feat. It demands unwavering dedication, strategic thinking, and adaptability. Yet, the rewards—though often intangible—are immense. As long as there are mothers and children who need our support, we will continue to fight for them.
Dr. Arun Gupta, Central Coordinator, Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI)