Breastfeeding Friendly Premises: Spaces

(Video uploaded 02/04/2020)

Transcript

Titleļ¼šBreastfeeding Friendly Premises: Spaces

Narrator: A mother is breastfeeding her baby in the seating area of a shopping mall. The venue staff approaches the mother and asks her not to breastfeed in public. She asks the mother to follow her to another place to breastfeed.

The venue staff brings the couple and baby to the toilet and tells the mother to breastfeed there. The couple is shocked.

The mother is reluctant to go to the toilet. When the mother goes inside, the baby starts to cry because of the uncomfortable environment. She then leaves the toilet.

The father goes to seek the manager's help. The manager and the venue staff rush to find the mother outside the toilet. They apologised for directing the mother to breastfeed in the toilet. The manager brings the mother to another room to breastfeed her baby.

Manager: Babies need a clean and comfortable place to feed! As a staff member, you should know where the appropriate nursing locations are.

Narrator: The manager then waves his finger to transform an ordinary room to a babycare room and introduce the appropriate environment for feeding babiesā€¦

Manager: A dedicated babycare room provides a private and comfortable place for breastfeeding.

A babycare room should be neat and clean, with comfortable chairs with armrests, wall sockets for breast pumps, and wash basins with hand soap or alcohol hand rub, and preferably a door lock. For hygiene reasons, the nappy changing area must be separated from the breastfeeding area.

Narrator: The breastfeeding mother feels comfortable to breastfeed in the babycare room

Manager:Other than babycare rooms, are there other spaces where the mother can breastfeed? With a little creativity, we can identify locations that offer more options to breastfeeding mothers.

It can be a bench in a quiet corner of the shopping mall.

Or a quiet table in a restaurant.

A fitting room in a retail boutique can be a good choice.

In a hotel, a seat with more privacy or a vacant guest room are both excellent options.

You should also get familiar with nearby breastfeeding facilities to show the breastfeeding mothers these options.

Narrator: The staff shows understanding.

The manager and the staff meet the couple again in the lobby. The couple expressed their gratitude to the staff for being breastfeeding friendly.

Manager: Let's work together to make our breastfeeding mothers feel more supported and welcome!

Narrator: If you want to become a member of our breastfeeding support community, please contact UNICEF Hong Kong “SayYesToBreastfeeding” at 2836 2913 or School of Nursing at the University of Hong Kong “Breastfeeding Friendly Community Initiative BFCI”

For details, please visit www.fhs.gov.hk

This video is produced by the Family Health Service of the Department of Health.