Why Was BPNI Founded and What Is Its History?

BPNI (Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India) was founded on 3 December 1991 in Wardha, Maharashtra. It grew out of a personal failure that its founders, a married couple of doctors, experienced twice: despite believing in exclusive breastfeeding, they could not sustain it for either of their children — their daughter, born in 1979, stopped breastfeeding by 5–6 months, and the same happened with their son in 1981. What they could not find at the time was any practical support system, so they set out to build one. BPNI today describes itself as a national network of organisations and individuals working to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding as a route to mother and child health.

The experience that started it

The founding story, as BPNI tells it, is not a success story but a gap in the system:

• 1979 — Their daughter was born. Both parents were doctors and strong supporters of breastfeeding, and they decided she should be breastfed exclusively for the first months.
• The outcome — They failed within a few days. No support was available from the family or from the health care system, and the prevailing bottle-feeding culture was too strong. The child had to give up breastfeeding by 5–6 months.
• 1981 — Their son was born, and the same story repeated.
• The search for answers — They began looking for information on how breastfeeding could actually succeed, and found nothing useful.

The conclusion they drew is the core of BPNI's mission: women were being told to follow optimal breastfeeding guidelines but were not being supported to do so, so their efforts often failed. As more women adopted bottle-feeding as a "modern" practice, the problem grew.

From a personal problem to a national network

BPNI was formally established on 3 December 1991 at Wardha, Maharashtra. Rather than a single clinic or campaign, it was set up as a network — organisations and individuals — so that breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support could be delivered at national scale rather than depending on individual families to manage alone.

That framing matters for understanding what BPNI is today: it positions itself less as a direct service provider and more as a coordinating and advocacy body for mother and child health through breastfeeding.

What BPNI works on now

The organisation's current activities, as listed on its site, show how the founding concern translated into programmes:

The parent guide is listed at Rs. 50 and is available in English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Assamese, Gujarati, Oriya, and Punjabi — a concrete example of the "support, not just advice" principle, since it is written for parents rather than clinicians.

Why the history is worth knowing

If you are trying to understand BPNI's priorities, the origin story explains them:

• Support over exhortation — The founders' complaint was not a lack of guidelines but a lack of help. This is why BPNI invests in antenatal preparation modules and hospital-level practice change rather than awareness messaging alone.
• Systems, not individuals — The failure was attributed to the family and health system environment, which is why BPNI organises as a network and targets hospitals and health workers.
• Protection as well as promotion — The campaigns against unethical infant formula trials and marketing follow directly from the bottle-feeding culture the founders encountered in 1979.

BPNI also maintains an active presence on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and publishes COVID-19 and breastfeeding resources alongside its core material.