This archive report was first published on 24 July 2021.
As the Tokyo Olympics continue, organisers have taken steps to address the challenges faced by breastfeeding mothers. The issue came to light after Spanish synchronised swimmer Ona Carbonell expressed her concerns on social media about having to travel to Tokyo without her husband and son, Kai, who is nearly one, due to pre-Games travel rules that would have required them to stay in quarantine in a separate hotel.
"For me to go and breastfeed Kai whenever he needs it during the day I would have to leave the Olympic village, the team's bubble, and go to the hotel, risking my team's health," Carbonell said in an Instagram post.
However, Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi stated that the organisers have found solutions to this problem. "As soon as we heard about this (mothers not being able to travel with their children) we said let's find solutions," Dubi said at a news conference.
Organisers have designated an area in the Olympic village for athletes to safely spend time with and breastfeed their children, but the children must stay in private accommodation. This decision was made to protect other competitors from the risk of infections.
"We were discussing how we could have a good balance between delivering the safest, secure environment and meeting the special requests by the National Olympic Committees," said Tokyo Games spokesman Masa Takaya.
So far, the Games have had 123 disclosed COVID-19 cases, with a number of athletes missing their competitions due to the virus.
