How breastfeeding is still taboo in Hong Kong and why breast is best

An advert for US clothing company Gap went viral earlier this year, because one of the shots chosen was snapped when the model took a break to breastfeed her baby. The image rapidly generated 50,000 likes on Instagram and 4,000 comments.

In India, a shot of a mother breastfeeding on the cover of a March edition of bimonthly Grihalakshmi elicited some applause, but it also incited outrage on social media, dominated the news, and resulted in a lawyer bringing a case against the model and the magazine under the country’s Indecent Representation of Women Act of 1986.

Singapore Changi puts Hong Kong’s airport to shame on nursing facilities

Both incidents make it plain that breastfeeding remains contentious and newsworthy, but such a natural act shouldn’t be.

Many mothers in Hong Kong would like to breastfeed and for longer than they do. Although the number of breastfeeding mothers has risen – almost 87 per cent of mothers in 2016, versus 19 per cent in 1981, according to the Department of Health – many don’t sustain it.

Reasons include having to go back to work after a short maternity break and a lack of places to breastfeed. Most new mums are back at work within eight to 12 weeks of delivery.

Formula feeding may seem easier – anybody can mix up a feed and give a baby a bottle – but it presents its own challenges and drawbacks.

According to the World Health Organisation, babies who are breastfed exclusively for the first six months have fewer ear infections, coughs, colds, stomach upsets.