Social affairs minister warns it could mean that husbands sue wives who do not breastfeed 
 
 The United Arab Emirates has passed a law requiring mothers to breastfeed their children until they are two years old. The clause was added to a children's rights law, but the social affairs minister, Mariam al-Roumi, said it raised the prospect of husbands suing wives who did not breastfeed. 
 
 "This part of the law can be a burden," Roumi was quoted as saying by the Emirati newspaper the National. "If the law forced women to breastfeed, this could lead to new court cases." 
 
 The Dubai-based group Out of the Blues, which supports mothers with postnatal illness, warned that the law could criminalise women when they are at their most vulnerable. "We are concerned that enacting a law that leaves mothers facing potential punishment could be a step too far," the group said. 
 
 Members of the UAE's federal national council, which passed the law, suggested wet nurses should be provided for children whose mothers had died or could not feed them. 
 
 "This is the right of every child for two years," Sultan al-Sammahi said. "If they do not have a mother or have been neglected, then they should get this right from someone else." 
 
 Another member, Ahmad al-Shamsi, said the law aimed to make breastfeeding "a duty and not an option" for able mothers. "This is part of raising a child. This is mandatory," he said. "Laws are not all about fines and penalties – some are also humane." 
 
 The law says all government offices must provide a nursery so working mothers can breastfeed, an existing regulation that has never been enforced. ||||| ABU DHABI // The Federal National Council has passed a clause in the Child Rights law requiring mothers to breastfeed – despite concerns from a minister. 
 
 The council’s session on Tuesday continued a marathon debate on the legislation, during which the Minister of Social Affairs, Mariam Al Roumi, said such a law could lead to husbands suing their wives if they did not breastfeed. 
 
 "This part of the law can be a burden," she said. "If the law forced women to breastfeed, this could lead to new court cases." 
 
 Salem Al Ameri (Abu Dhabi) insisted that breastfeeding was a right for all children, as mentioned in Islam. 
 
 Dr Amal Al Qubaisi (Abu Dhabi) said that because labour laws already allow working women to take time to breastfeed, adding the requirement to the legislation showed consistency. 
 
 The clause was added to the law once it was passed to the council’s health, labour and social affairs committee for review. 
 
 Sultan Al Sammahi (Fujairah), a member of the committee, said it was the right of all children to be breast fed up to the age of 2. 
 
 It remains unclear how the law could be enforced, and Mr Al Sammahi suggested that if complications arose or mothers were neglecting their duties, they could be punished. 
 
 Ahmed Al Shamsi (Ajman) said the clause aimed to help nurture a strong relationship between a mother and her child. 
 
 He said the law’s intention was that breastfeeding should be a duty and not an option for able mothers. 
 
 Members also tried to add a number of rights for working women into the law but were refused by the minister. 
 
 The committee wanted a clause mandating the Government help working women to protect their children and to ensure all workplaces had a nursery, but Ms Al Roumi said this would be problematic because of the vagueness of the language. 
 
 "I am not against working women but there are seven laws on working women," she said. "We cannot talk about working women here and ignore stay-at-home mothers." 
 
 She reminded members that the law was on children’s rights and not the rights of mothers. 
 
 "The Government should not be held responsible for everything," Ms Al Roumi said. "This clause is too big and clashes with other laws." 
 
 Some members insisted on the article’s importance but others were happy for it to be removed. 
 
 The minister told members that a law on nurseries would be referred to them soon. 
 
 Since a decision was taken for nurseries to be built at federal and government entities, there had been a 360 per cent increase in them. 
 
 Members eventually agreed to remove the working women clause and to wait for the nurseries law. 
 
 osalem@thenational.ae
– Sure, the pope supports it, but a new clause added to a children's rights law in the United Arab Emirates doesn't just encourage mothers to breastfeed—it requires it until children are at least two years old, the Guardian reports. While those who passed the law late last month say breastfeeding is "the right of every child for two years" and "a duty and not an option," a support group for mothers with postnatal illness is disturbed. "The danger is that with the threat of punishment, these women could face additional stress at an already challenging time, risking serious repercussions and potentially contributing to postnatal depression," the group says. The country's social affairs minister is concerned, too, but for a very different reason. "This part of the law can be a burden," she says, noting husbands may be able to sue their wives if they don't breastfeed. How the law will be enforced, though, isn't clear. "Some families leave their children to maids and don't breastfeed. This is part of raising a child, though, this is mandatory," a member of the council that passed the law tells the National. "If they do not have a mother or have been neglected, then they should get this right from someone else"—perhaps a wet nurse.