Breastfeeding in China and Hong Kong: experts tackle ignorance of mothers and doctors
La Leche League trains counsellors to counter myths and misinformation about breastfeeding in China, and would like to open a resource centre in Hong Kong where specialists can advise nursing mums who have problems
When Sophia Leung Suk-fong graduated from medicine in 1978 to become a paediatrician, the breastfeeding rate in Hong Kong had dropped to its lowest point – 5 per cent, down from 44 per cent 11 years earlier.
It wasn’t something that happened in Hong Kong, but a worldwide phenomenon thanks to powdered milk corporations giving the impression it was more healthier for the baby and convenient for the mother, she says.
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“Some mothers would want to breastfeed, but nurses at the time didn’t have the knowledge to help mothers solve their breastfeeding problems so they resorted to powdered milk,” she recalls.
Since 1984, Leung has seen the number of Hong Kong mothers who have tried breastfeeding at least once start to rise. According to the latest available figures, from 2011, 83 per cent of Hong Kong women try breastfeeding at least once – though the number that persist with it is much lower.
Many Hong Kong mothers resort to using milk powder because of their short maternity leave of 10 weeks. Leung’s colleague Maggie Yu Yuen-ling, an internationally certified lactation consultant, observes the attitudes of young Hong Kong mothers.
“The mother wants freedom and wants to go back to work. They don’t want to be attached to the baby. When they are feeding they don’t really bond with their child – they’re looking at their smartphones,” Yu says.