When Sona Kosayan, 31, had her first child—a baby boy—doctors told her she didn’t have enough breastmilk to feed him properly.

"My child was very restless; I thought he had stomach cramps, but everyone kept saying he was crying because he was hungry,” she recalls. “We tried feeding him a large bottle of formula, but he cried even louder, and I decided not to give it to him." 

In reality, her son—Ashot—wasn’t hungry. He had an intestinal infection. But everyone around Sona, including the doctors, tried to convince her that her breastmilk was the problem.  

Astghik Karapetyan says her organization, Ket 33 Information and Human Rights, frequently hears from women looking for expert advice on breastfeeding. 

“One common issue is that women not only receive insufficient support in learning how to breastfeed but may also face insensitive remarks. For instance, one woman reported being told, ‘You don’t have a nipple; how are you going to feed?’ Such comments are deeply offensive and demotivating,” she says. “Medical staff should be well-prepared to address both the physical and emotional needs of women and their newborns.”

Internationally, modern medicine encourages breastfeeding. “Studies show that breastfed infants have a lower hospitalization rate and tend to be in better health,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. The World Health Organization also encourages supporting breastfeeding, and sees a government role in supporting the practice. It has set a goal for 70 percent of all newborns to be breastfeeding within an hour of birth. In Armenia, just shy of 41 percent of newborns are breastfed in the first hour after birth—an increase from 24.5 percent in 2000 but still short of the international average of 47 percent. 

The Armenian government started encouraging breastfeeding in 2014, when Parliament passed the Law on Promotion of Breastfeeding of Children and Circulation of Baby Food. The law requires health workers to encourage breastfeeding and to provide infants with no food or liquid other than breast milk. The law also mandates that medical workers must inform the management of the health care organization if they receive any offers (such as samples, gifts, or other incentives) from baby food manufacturers and/or distributors, or if there are any violations of the law.

But doctors have been slow to adopt the practice, in part due to aggressive marketing by formula companies as well as decades-old beliefs that breastmilk can lack the nutrients growing babies need. 

Anna Tonikyan, a neonatologist and breastfeeding specialist, points out that common myths include claims that a mother’s milk isn’t good enough, becomes watery after a year, or is otherwise lacking, are still widespread. 

“Breast milk is special because its composition changes throughout the day and adapts to the baby’s health. If the mother is well-informed, she will be less influenced by misleading advice," she says.

Maternity schools operate in several hospitals and medical facilities in Yerevan, often in collaboration with the UN Population Fund and the MOM Center, where mothers receive relevant knowledge.

The Michel Odent Mother (MOM) Center  provides comprehensive care for women throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. It also offers initiatives for expectant fathers through the "Masterclass Dad" courses, where fathers meet with specialists and discuss topics including breastfeeding.

Additionally, there is a Facebook support group for breastfeeding mothers, called the Armenian Breastfeeding and Mother-to-Mother Support Group. This group, with about 58,000 members, aims to create a supportive environment for mothers to discuss breastfeeding, share advice, and receive professional information based on personal experience.

To further popularize the practice, on August 9, 2024, the Ministry of Health announced that all medical organizations providing hospital obstetrics and gynecology care would be required to have a trained breastfeeding consultant or a medical worker on staff. 

“"The presence of a breastfeeding consultant or an appropriately trained medical worker will be a mandatory requirement in medical organizations providing maternity care,” Lilit Avanesyan, Head of the Department of Maternal and Child Health Protection at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, said.

Women’s rights advocate Karapetyan views the new policy as a positive step but emphasizes that its success will depend on how it is enforced, which is still unclear.

Tonikyan, the neonatologist and breastfeeding specialist who has been advising the ministry on the new program, notes the policy still lacks the necessary details to enact it.    

 "The Ministry of Health has yet to specify the criteria for becoming a specialist, including the required training courses, exams, and practical hours. For example, the international International Board Certified Lactation Consultant qualification requires specialists to complete over 95 hours of training, pass ethics classes, accumulate over 1,000 hours of practice, and pass an exam," she explains.

Meline Khudeyan, a psychologist at the TMM Center, a learning and development organization for children and parents, believes acceptance for breastfeeding is growing in Armenia, although women still face significant challenges. 

"Regardless of external pressures or opinions, the nursing mother should decide how and how much to feed her baby. It’s important that she approaches breastfeeding with love and enjoyment, turning it into a joyful and prideful experience,” she says. 

“Although new mothers who breastfeed in public might face some criticism, Armenian society is becoming more accepting of breastfeeding in public places.”

Armenia’s Labor Code includes provisions to support breastfeeding after maternity leave. Specifically, Article 258 of the Code states that until the child is one and a half years old, a breastfeeding mother is entitled to an additional break of at least 30 minutes every three hours, in addition to regular rest and feeding breaks. This means that during an eight hour workday, a breastfeeding woman can take an additional break totaling at least one hour.

However, 28-year old Anna notes that it took her about 30-40 minutes to commute home from work. To save time, she had to use the kitchen at work to pump milk and send it home.

"I noticed that my colleagues would stare at me when I locked myself in the kitchen, but it was the only suitable place. It felt humiliating to do it in the restroom," says Anna.

Women’s rights advocate Karapetyan notes that while there are regulations on providing a special room for breastfeeding at the workplace, it is not mandatory. But she argues that if public norms change, the practice will become more common and acceptable. 

"Although it’s not required to give up your seat for a pregnant woman on public transport, many of us do. If employers genuinely respect and care for pregnant women and mothers— not only at the time of saying a toast—they will find ways to support their employees in balancing child care and work. This doesn’t necessarily require significant resources,” she says.