Acting director proposes breastfeeding rooms for gov’t departments

The Health Bureau’s acting director, Cheang Seng Ip, has proposed the establishment of breastfeeding rooms in all government departments as part of a plan to promote the wider use of breastfeeding in Macau.
“We aim to lead the way and set up breastfeeding rooms in all governmental departments through relevant acts and regulations,” TDM cite Cheang as saying. “We hope to take the leading role in promoting breastfeeding.”
The comments were welcomed by breastfeeding advocate, Jack Newman, who attended a seminar, held recently by the Macau Breastfeeding Association.
But to what extent the proposed new breastfeeding rooms – implied to be discrete spaces – will aid the efforts of the Macau Breastfeeding Association in tackling the social stigma of public breastfeeding is still uncertain.
The Macau Breastfeeding Association was founded in 2013 to promote an array of family issues relating to nursing, and to call for more government resources to be allocated to the promotion of breastfeeding.
The association held their annual breastfeeding flash mob campaign in May at the Iao Hon Market Garden, with the intention of continuing promoting society’s acceptance of public breastfeeding.
Virginia Tam, vice-chairlady of the association told the Times in May, that many mothers are still being driven away when trying to breastfeed in public areas like hotels, restaurants and shopping malls. Staff reporter