Breastfeeding-friendly map app helps mothers find everything with one finger

A few days ago, it was reported that a mother was driven to the breastfeeding room by staff while breastfeeding in public in the Forbidden City. The National Health Bureau stated that in addition to the legal protection of mothers' rights to breastfeed in public, for mothers who are embarrassed to breastfeed in public, the "Breastfeeding APP iPad Version" will be launched in October, providing a map search function. Mothers can swipe their fingers to accurately locate and find the nearest mother-child friendly hospital or public breastfeeding space, so that they can breastfeed with peace of mind.

Chiu Shu-ti, director of the National Health Administration, said that breastfeeding can maintain the relationship between mother and baby and is also beneficial to the baby's health. Therefore, UNICEF and the World Health Organization both encourage exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months after birth, and then add complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed until over 2 years old.

The current exclusive breastfeeding rate in the country in the first month is 61.8%, which drops to 39.7% in the fourth month and 24.2% in the sixth month. The main reason is the inconvenience of returning to the workplace and breastfeeding outside, and a more friendly environment is needed to support mothers to continue breastfeeding.

Therefore, the National Health and Family Planning Commission released the first Chinese "Breastfeeding APP" during this year's International Breastfeeding Week. In addition to facilitating the search for breastfeeding-related resources, for example, if new mothers are not sure how to breastfeed correctly, this APP can provide step-by-step video and audio teaching with illustrations; it can also accurately locate through maps to find the nearest mother-child friendly hospital or public breastfeeding space.

However, Chiu Shu-ti once again emphasized that even if there are breastfeeding rooms, it cannot restrict mothers' rights to breastfeed in public. She called on the public to give affirmation with a smile if they see mothers breastfeeding in public.