A friend of mine once warned me about the nursing room at Hougang Mall as she found it very smelly and dirty on her first (and last, according to her) visit. She had used the one on Level 2, near the various eateries, and told me that it was probably the worst nursing room she has ever encountered. Thus, when Noah started fussing for milk after I spent too much time browsing in Popular, I decided to check with the Information Counter staff if there was another nursing room in the mall. Thankfully, I was directed to the one on Level 5, which, although was also situated near the toilets, was odour-free.
Hougang Mall Nursing Room (Level 5) I located the nursing room quite easily as the mall itself is rather small and the directional sign was clearly visible. It also helped that the nursing room was along the corridor right in front of the escalator.
Facilities: 3.5/5 I was pleasantly surprised that the room was rather spacious, with a very generous space for bags, right next to the changing station, which was also quite large.
Changing Station
There was a cushioned bench for nursing, and a curtain which could only be drawn to separate the nursing and changing area from the sink. I didn’t think that was very practical, as it doesn’t allow another parent to change his/her child’s diaper if there was a mother nursing her baby there. In addition, the nursing room could be locked, giving the nursing mother privacy, but denying other parents access to the changing station and water dispenser.
The nursing bench PS. Check out the gross stain on the curtain!
There were two power points available in the room, but these were rather inconveniently located away from the nursing bench.
Power Points & Bag Area
The sink had a soap dispenser and was situated diagonally beneath the hot and cold water dispenser. There was also a dustbin underneath the changing station, but no paper towels or toilet paper were provided.
Sink & Water Dispenser
My main grouse with the nursing room is the extremely low temperature in it. It was very cold and I had to cover my baby’s legs with a cloth while I was nursing him.
Cleanliness: 3/5 The floor was slightly damp and had some stains on it but what really bugged me was the curtain next to the nursing bench. There were numerous unidentifiable stains on it (refer to above picture) and I couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable as I nursed my baby. I don’t even want to think about how the stains came about! *shudder*
Conclusion Although the nursing room is next to the toilets, it didn’t stink at all, either because the loos on the fifth floor aren’t heavily utilised or the cleaners are doing a good job. I didn’t check out the one on the second floor since my friend had a bad experience there and I think I’ll just stick to using this one whenever I’m there. Hopefully, it won’t be occupied when I need to use it, since nursing rooms are in very short supply here.
The management should really get rid of the grubby curtain and look into raising the temperature there as well, to provide a more conducive environment. Of course, more nursing rooms will definitely be a big plus too!
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