Mother and Baby Room Creator
I am a mother. I can understand the concerns of mothers from their point of view. I always wondered why Iranian mothers should be discarded after the birth of their child. Every day, I see mothers who being away from the eyes of others, cares their babies with anxiety worries and hug them in a corner of the city; either under the tree or green space. I should do something according to the human responsibility and my job responsibility: dealing with women's affairs.
Others did it; those whose religious teachings are reverence recommendation of women and their children; so I began to study the status of mothers in the public places of the city, I reached the terminal, and the hardships experienced by the mothers of the passenger to address their babies. Finally, the “mother and child's room” was established with the support and endeavors of the organization of terminals and colleagues.
Now, mothers can do their maternity duty with no trouble at terminals and 8 stations of subway and a lot of other places. They welcome Mother and Baby room and we tried to provide more comfort opportunities for them. Now, we wish to create a mother and baby room in all of the country's public centers.
An overview on the formation of Mother and Baby Room
Mother and Baby rooms have been created to provide amenities, comfort and service to mothers and their children, and respect to social identity and in line with organizational goals, namely the provision and reverence of clients, citizens and visitors. Every effort was made to create a mother and child room for the realization of social justice in public affairs, as did other countries, whose religion is not as much as our religious order to honor women and their children.
From 1998 to 2006, preliminary studies were carried out and regarding the position that I had in terminals and parksours organization, the proposal to create a parent room was sent to the former CEO Mr. Sadiqi in January of 2006. After his approval for construction at terminals and for execution throughout the country, the plan was also sent to the Director General of the Department of Women's Affairs of the Municipality of Tehran, Dr. Mushir. However, the room was established in 2007 at the Southern Terminus following the Western Terminus and Beyhaghi with the command of Mr. Eng. Azroozhsh, the Managing Director of the First Mother and Child Room and the presence of the Deputy Minister of Transportation Mr. Eng. Tashakori Hashemi. The last room was opened at the Eastern Terminal in April 2010.
Monitoring was begun after the operation of the last room at the Eastern Terminal in April 2010.
2011 2012 2013 2014 (first nine months) Total Clients 1809 3825 6404 4982 South Terminal 1064 1796 3650 2661 West Terminal 492 482 1163 506 East Terminal 137 1424 1439 1365 Beyhaghi Terminal 116 123 152 150
*- This is the number of individuals who wish to fill the survey
The above statistics indicate an upward trend of 6%. The purpose of the presentation of statistics is to require that there are some disadvantages for any plan and we should consider both advantages and disadvantages. The satisfaction of the target population (mothers and children) is an important factor; some of which are native travelers, such as mothers who travel only for sightseeing and visiting relatives, and more often for the treatment of their children in the capital. It is necessary to know that since the opening of these rooms, the organization of terminals has had four exhibitions of visitors. The statistics of these individuals can also be added to the number of visitors to the terminals.
1. The plan was submitted to the General Directorate of State Affairs in January 2006;
2. In May 2009, the plan was adopted as a part of the City of Child Friendly Act.
3. With the formation of the Supreme Committee, the plan was recognized as the best project at the municipality level and assigned the first rank.
4. Participating in the town's booths exhibition and the exhibition of games and toys in October 2009 and November 2011, the mother and baby's room ranked first. Since 2007, the mother and baby's room has found its place among the passenger mothers and has become a safe shelter for them to take care of their children, even in the underground stations, without any concern from others' eyes. Following the unrivaled acceptance of the passengers and citizens of Tehran, the rooms were also created in some metropolises and some shopping centers. At present, the rooms are attended by officials from the social spheres of civil society organizations and corporations. However, the Ministry of Interior is responsible for the implementation of the project throughout the country and UNICEF has also been prepared to provide educational and promotional support. The organization of terminals is now paying attention to the leading role in the construction of maternal room in the caregiver's deliberations. In 2013, During the correspondence with Dr. Ali Akbar Saayri, the health department's health minister, with Mr. Khandan Dell, the head of the Municipal Organization of the Ministry of the Interior – which a copy of this correspondence has been sent to the presidency of the Center for Women and Family Affairs - their emphasis is on creating a maternity and child room like the terminal organization, which is a turning point for the success of this project. This shows that after 9 years of the life of this project, the importance and necessity of creating it in the community is increasing day by day. By creating this room, people's expectations of urban management have become more prominent; to extant which in a letter from the deputy head of municipal affairs made sure the mother and child room design guidelines are prepared with the point of view of the developer at the terminals. Now, the instruction has been communicated to all municipalities of the country.
Marjan Mortazavi; Mother and Baby Room Creator – Summer 2015