BAGUIO City—SM City here yesterday launched a breast-feeding station, making it the 31st breast-feeding- friendly mall in the country.

The station, located on the third level of the mall, is designed to make breast-feeding comfortable for nursing mothers while shopping at SM.

Marie Bernadette Velasco, SM chairperson of its committee on breast-feeding, said in her opening remarks that SM supports breast-feeding and also helps raising awareness for mothers on the benefits of breast-feeding. “We saw the need of our female customers to have a place where they can feed their babies in their own privacy and convenience for free,” she said.

She announced that three other SM malls will soon have similar stations before the end of the year.

Since it launched its first breastfeeding station at the SM Megamall in 2006, SM has become known as a breast-feeding-friendly mall. It has served more than 30,000 lactating mothers to date. The program is in partnership with the Department of Health, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization and the local government.

The launching of the breast-feeding station in Baguio was attended by Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr., local health officials, SM officials, mothers, pregnant and lactating moms, and midwives.