A public hearing on establishing baby-care rooms in public places for breastfeeding and changing diapers was held by three DPP legislators yesterday.
Under Section 20 of the Children's Welfare Law (
Last year, the Department of Health allocated about NT$8 million for such purposes. Two hundred and eleven organizations submitted applications, 161 of which received subsidies, said Shiu Ruei-shiang (徐瑞祥), a Department of Health official.
Baby-care rooms typically contain fridges, couches, washbasins and daiper-changing tables.
Shiu suggested that the low rate of breastfeeding in Taiwan might be raised by the provision of more baby-care facilities.
He cited statistics from 1996 showing that 40 percent of Taiwanese mothers breastfeed, whereas 98 percent of Scandinavian and 60 percent of American mothers breastfeed.
"The benefits of breastfeeding are obvious. We hope to raise the breastfeeding percentage to 50 percent in four years," Shiu said.
The legislators, Chou Ya-shu (
They urged government departments to take the lead by opening them for their staff and drafting new rules to make them compulsory nationally, rather than merely encouraging them, as before.
Wei Lung-sheng (
He said, "It is more suitable to encourage than to compel. It is unnecessary to order those government departments which only have a few ladies to set up such facilities."
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