As China slips further and further into fascism, its government starts to enforce what it deems as “good” policies that were mostly not possible to enforce in a sane society. After cracking down on private education companies, China has turned its attention to mothers and newborn babies. Recently, it issued a document to explain what it calls “Promoting Mother Milk Feeding Action Plan”. In a normal society, there is nothing wrong for promoting breast-feeding, as we all know it has many benefits. However, when a dictatorship is determined to execute a “good” plan, nothing can get in its way.
A number of hospitals have started to implement this plan. They are banning baby formula and are forcing all mothers to breastfeed. Here are three separate cases and the translation.
We have a hospital here that previously had very tight control. After childbirth when you are in the hospital, if the nurses confiscate any milk bottles they see. They only allow breastfeeding. But newborns if they don’t make their first poop they will become jaundiced, and mothers don’t have enough milk just after giving birth. There was one mother she had very little milk. The child’s jaundice level was sky high. It was so severe that the child was transferred to another hospital in Shanghai. The family spent hundreds thousands for treatment. (I was asking the nanny why this hospital was a popular place for childbirth before but no one goes there any more, she told me this story. I heard that the family sued the hospital and won).
This is real. The hospital does not allow any powder or liquid milk (to bring with you). According to their explanation, newborns do not feel hungry. I already told the nurses that I do not have milk. They came to me and squeezed my breast and said, there you have milk, let the baby suck more. My SO went to the nurses’ station and had a big quarrel, and finally won a concession of 5ml formula. Bringing powdered formula is very inconvenient because you have to mix the formula and once they find out they’ll confiscate it. I suggest that you sneak in some liquid formula.
The hospital I went to also had this problem. I told them that I wanted to feed formula, but they forced me to breastfeed after birth. I thought maybe I’ll just feed the first milk. Then my family forced me to breastmilk. Now my nipples are injured, the whole breasts are swollen and hurting. I feel really desperate.