A staff arranges the room for mother and infant use at a community in Weihai City, east China's Shandong Province, Aug. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhu Zheng)
BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- As a new mother, a woman surnamed Zou from Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, has chosen a department store near her home as her preferred shopping destination, thanks to its convenient baby-care room.
The baby-care room in the store has three private breastfeeding booths and several changing tables of varying sizes. There, mothers can also find free disposable breast pads and breast-milk storage bags.
Zou said she is content with most of the baby-care rooms she had frequented in the city. "However, the problem is, without any online information or clear signage, it is always not easy to find those rooms in places that I am not familiar with," Zou said.
In recent years, more baby-care rooms have sprung up in public places across China, as the country has intensified efforts to create a baby-friendly environment.
In 2016, Chinese authorities issued a guideline for improving facilities designated for new mothers and infants. According to the proposal, public places such as transportation hubs, commercial centers, hospitals, tourist attractions and recreational areas should establish independent baby-care rooms with a minimum area of approximately 10 square meters and equipped with basic facilities.
An action plan promoting breastfeeding across the country issued in 2021 proposed that, by 2025, 80 percent of public places should be equipped with mother-and-child facilities, and all workplaces in need should complete the construction of standardized breastfeeding facilities.
Despite this, both the public and experts agree that more efforts are needed to enhance public access to mother-and-child facilities.
The main challenge is inadequate early planning, said Li Gang, a health official in Zhejiang's Hangzhou.
Li highlighted that a lack of reserved space during initial planning and construction has caused difficulties in the subsequent installation of baby-care rooms in some locations. "For newly built places, we work with operators to ensure suitable spaces are reserved for these rooms," said Li.
In recent years, various regions have been actively addressing the issues concerning young mothers. For instance, east China's Zhejiang Province has formulated a local standard for the building and management of baby-care rooms. Now Hangzhou has 738 such facilities, with a standardization rate of over 95 percent.
Various regions have brought forth new approaches to address the issue of managing baby-care rooms. For example, in Zhejiang, an online platform has been launched to enable parents to find nearby breastfeeding rooms and navigate to their exact location. Detailed information on such rooms, including grade and facility configuration, is also provided for personalized screening.
Experts believe it is necessary to strengthen training for the construction and maintenance units of baby-care rooms and raise social awareness through publicity and science popularization activities. ■
