Scare may increase breast-feeding
The scare may prompt more mothers to consider breast-feeding their infants, a Medical Association council member said.
'We are not blaming any mothers in this case as they must be stressed enough. But we have always advocated breast-feeding.' said Dr Lee Ka-yan. 'After this incident, mothers about to have babies would probably reconsider breast-feeding their children.' Chairwoman of the Hong Kong Breast-feeding Mothers Association Vivian Leung Yuet-kan said that if more mothers had breast-fed, there would have been less panic.
'We don't see it as the mother's problem. The environment in Hong Kong is not very supportive of breast-feeding.
'If you ask the Government whether they support breast-feeding, they'll say 'yes'. But in the past two days, the Government has not once come out to say that breast-feeding is the safest way to feed your baby.' A survey conducted last year by the Baby Friendly Initiative Hong Kong showed 47 per cent of mothers breast-fed their infants after they left hospital. But only 16 per cent of mothers still breast-fed two months after giving birth, a separate study showed.
