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blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
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 Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 2:08 am Post subject: Breastfeeding in South Korea (continued) |
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(mod note: OP at http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=134043)
My wife did, and definitely lots of korean women do.
I'm guessing for many of the one's that don't, they reason might have to do with having to go back to work after a very short maternity leave.
Sweden has 1 year mat leave, I believe. Japan probably has better mat leave than Koreans do. Richer country (and more educated on health matters) |
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Crockpot2001
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 2:22 am Post subject: |
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| blaseblasphemener wrote: |
My wife did, and definitely lots of korean women do.
I'm guessing for many of the one's that don't, they reason might have to do with having to go back to work after a very short maternity leave.
Sweden has 1 year mat leave, I believe. Japan probably has better mat leave than Koreans do. Richer country (and more educated on health matters) |
Thanks for the serious response. Good point on expediting the return to work. It would be good if workplaces globally provided daycare and feeding stations but that's quite a lot to ask, especially here. Sweden certainly has it going on and it's very appearent when we visit. |
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ninenine0
Joined: 27 Jul 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 2:59 am Post subject: |
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| My Korean coteacher pumps her breast milk a few times a day, I assume she feeds it to her baby... |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:45 am Post subject: |
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I breastfed my daughter for 27 months, from the day she was born.
I had no problem feeding in public, either.. heh...
ALL major supermarket chains and department stores have nursing rooms.. you can go there to nurse or to change your baby's nappies. They provide wipes and some other stuff for free, too. They have cots, too, so if your baby is sleeping and you want to lay her/him down, you can do that.
All in all, I had an extremely pleasant feeding experience in Korea. No one stared (except one ajosshi who deliberately came to look at what I was doing at Outback once.. and I was hiding in one corner with my face towards the wall so no one would really see what I was doing.. he STILL came to look.. until his wife called him back.. LOL) and everyone was cool about it. |
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excitinghead
Joined: 18 Jul 2005
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simone
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Now Mostly @ Home
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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I'm just in the process of weaning my daughter. We'll have made it a year. What can I say, she's got teeth and likes to use them.
I never had a problem nursing in public in Seoul when I had to. People were very supportive. Restaurants would give us the best tables, private areas, etc. just because of the baby.
Most gu chon offices hold breastfeeding promotion events, with lots of swag each year, that only breastfed babies can participate in.
I worked full time when my baby was 4-6 months, then part time for another 4 months, and have recently quit altogether. When I was full time, I never got a single dirty look for anyone for ducking out of the office to pump. My nanny also brought my baby to the office at lunch for her to nurse. People's responses? Overwhelming thumbs-up all around.
There's a ton of support, just not enough resources and education for women here. Oh, and a new Medela Pump-in-style costs more than double here what it does in the US. I guess they benchmark their prices based on the price of formula, which is also more expensive here. |
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Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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| I can never understand why you can buy cows milk at the supermarket but not human milk. I also can't understand why you can't get human cheese, human milk chocolate. |
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Crockpot2001
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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Browsing your blog. It looks right-on so far. |
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Crockpot2001
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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| simone wrote: |
I'm just in the process of weaning my daughter. We'll have made it a year. What can I say, she's got teeth and likes to use them.
I never had a problem nursing in public in Seoul when I had to. People were very supportive. Restaurants would give us the best tables, private areas, etc. just because of the baby.
Most gu chon offices hold breastfeeding promotion events, with lots of swag each year, that only breastfed babies can participate in.
I worked full time when my baby was 4-6 months, then part time for another 4 months, and have recently quit altogether. When I was full time, I never got a single dirty look for anyone for ducking out of the office to pump. My nanny also brought my baby to the office at lunch for her to nurse. People's responses? Overwhelming thumbs-up all around.
There's a ton of support, just not enough resources and education for women here. Oh, and a new Medela Pump-in-style costs more than double here what it does in the US. I guess they benchmark their prices based on the price of formula, which is also more expensive here. |
All great feedback but for the last paragraph. I'm glad to hear about the positive experiences. Too bad about the economics of feeding.
When I look at the recent responses by many Koreans to issues such as BSE or even silly fan death, science seems to not be easily accepted here, even resisted. When we discuss the positives of BF in the US we point to increased immunity, decreased rates of obesity and heart disease later in life, and greater brain and eye development. Such bonuses may not fly here, I'm not sure. However I do see DHA labeled on formulas and canned fish. |
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Cheonmunka
Joined: 04 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Babies should be kept out of public because when the cry's come they will annoy some stuck up dㅇrk nearby. |
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Yesterday
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Land of the Morning DongChim (Kancho)
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excitinghead
Joined: 18 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:25 am Post subject: |
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| Crockpot2001 wrote: |
Browsing your blog. It looks right-on so far. |
Thanks! |
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simone
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Now Mostly @ Home
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| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
All great feedback but for the last paragraph. I'm glad to hear about the positive experiences. Too bad about the economics of feeding.
When I look at the recent responses by many Koreans to issues such as BSE or even silly fan death, science seems to not be easily accepted here, even resisted. When we discuss the positives of BF in the US we point to increased immunity, decreased rates of obesity and heart disease later in life, and greater brain and eye development. Such bonuses may not fly here, I'm not sure. However I do see DHA labeled on formulas and canned fish. |
I had a printout from LLLI with "100 benefits to breastfeeding" to show my team leader to justify my 4+ breaks per day where I'd trot off to pump. I was supercow, man.
Turns out only one reason was EVER necessary to get the locals on board: 5-7 % higher IQs in babies breastfed one year.
When they think about how much they spend on hagwons and other ways to give their kind a small leg-up, they make that tooth sucking sound and think how their kids could have gotten into Seouldae if their wives hadn't been so worried about maintaining a beautiful bosom.
Then they ask if I need more time for it. 
Now with our genius baby, 5-7 IQ points isn't much, but if you're talking about a kid who's average or just below average, there's a big difference between being AS smart as your peers, or just a little bit slower. Big difference.[/quote] |
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nolegirl
Joined: 17 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Cheonmunka wrote: |
| Babies should be kept out of public because when the cry's come they will annoy some stuck up dㅇrk nearby. |
Agreed.
My sister could not breast feed. A nurse came over but my niece would not latch on and so they went to formula. Let me tell you formula is expensive, be lucky you can breast feed. Its healthy for the baby, you lose weight, and cheap. No down side except the sore nipples and the expensive breast pump. |
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excitinghead
Joined: 18 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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| nolegirl wrote: |
| Cheonmunka wrote: |
| Babies should be kept out of public because when the cry's come they will annoy some stuck up dㅇrk nearby. |
Agreed.
My sister could not breast feed. A nurse came over but my niece would not latch on and so they went to formula. Let me tell you formula is expensive, be lucky you can breast feed. Its healthy for the baby, you lose weight, and cheap. No down side except the sore nipples and the expensive breast pump. |
Tell me about it. My wife gave birth to our second child (both girls) a month ago, but she was 7 weeks early and has been in the hospital ever since. Both are doing fine, and our daughter should be out in less than two weeks, but with my wife's body clock/'mother clock" all screwed up she ultimately may not be able to breast-feed her at all.
It can't be helped, but amongst all the hospital fees and stress and my wife's postpartum depression being made worse by not having our daughter home with us and all, it just makes us feel like crap that we won't be able to provide our daughter with the best, healthiest start in life. |
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