The facility, a designated space where mothers can extract milk ready for breastfeeding, is set to be located in the Athletes Village in Cerrillos.

At a ceremony announcing plans for the lactation room Chile’s Sports Minister Alexandra Benado said: "It is the first time in a Pan American and Parapan American Games that we are going to have a lactation room and it fills us with pride.

"We believe that it is the first step, it is the least that we can give to our athletes who are mothers."

Chile’s Minister for Women and Gender Equality Antonia Orellana added: "It is the first step on a long road that requires support from the international organisations that regulate sports competitions to do their part.

"The will that the Government of Chile, the Santiago 2023 Corporation and the Chilean Olympic Committee have today corresponds to regulations that are up to the task."

Shot putter and 2022 South American Games medallist Natalia Duco, herself a mother, said of the facility: "I am proud, I want to congratulate the Ministers here for the effort that has been made, it is a tremendous step. 

 "It is very symbolic, it is from here forward. 

"There is much more to do, there is a great difference that we women who are mothers and are breastfeeding, we always have to choose and that cannot continue to happen." 

An estimated 9,000 athletes are set to participate across both the Pan American and Parapan American Games in Santiago, with around half expected to be women.

The Pan American Games are due to be held in Santiago from October 20 to November 5, with the Parapan American Games scheduled to follow from November 17 to 26.