Image credit: RT
Hong Kong has witnessed a mass protest by breastfeeding women at a train station there. About 100 breastfeeding mothers arrived at the station and fed their babies as a way to defy prejudice against public breastfeeding.
MamaMilk Baby Alliance, a breastfeeding support group, organized the flash mob that staged the protest at Tai Wai Station. According to the group, nursing mothers are facing discrimination in Hong Kong for feeding their babies in public. The protest is, therefore, their weapon to demand the government to come up with a mandate to fight the intolerance.
Women in Hong Kong are often directed to toilets to nurse their babies. Most public places such as shopping malls don’t have devoted facilities to help mothers nurse their babies. Although more people are becoming aware of the fact that breastfeeding is the healthiest course for babies, many women face difficulties, according to a spokes person for the group.
It was not the first time that the group has organized an event like this to boost awareness and the significance of breastfeeding.
Only 2.3 percent of babies in Hong Kong are breastfed exclusively until the first six months of their lives. The breastfeeding rate is rising in Hong Kong according to UNICEF’s Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative.
An estimated $223.6 million of China’s healthcare system could be saved if illnesses common in childhood could be overcome by improving the infants’ breastfeeding rates under the age of six months to 90 percent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
