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City mulls building over 800 nursing rooms by 2020

Writer: Zhang Yu  | Editor: Lily A  | From:  | Updated: 2018-04-13

SHENZHEN will build no less than 200 public nursing rooms each year from 2018 to 2020, the Daily Sunshine reported.

By 2020, more than 800 nursing rooms will be built in the city’s public places, including transportation hubs, commercial centers, hospitals, scenic spots and amusement parks.

According to a resident surnamed Xie, the city currently lacks nursing rooms in public places, so the rooms cannot be found easily or quickly when they are needed.

She said she feels a lot of pressure when she has to breastfeed or change a diaper for her baby in public, which is very inconvenient and embarrassing. She hopes there will be more nursing rooms and elevators put in places such as hospitals, supermarkets, shopping malls and parks.

“Right now, nursing rooms are not so evenly distributed in Shenzhen. Usually there are only ordinary toilets,” said a resident surnamed Shen. According to her experience, shopping malls and transportation hubs built in recent years are more likely to be equipped with nursing rooms.

The facilities within the nursing rooms also vary. For instance, the nursing rooms in the MixC, a shopping mall in Luohu District, as well as at Futian Railway Station, are very well equipped. While in other places, the rooms are either too small or have limited facilities.

“Now that the government wants to promote the construction of nursing rooms, I hope the rooms will also add such facilities as a water purifier, milk warmer and toilet, said Shen, adding that warm water is needed for the baby or for making powered milk.

Meanwhile, more lactating mothers hope that nursing rooms will have curtained cubicles in order to protect their privacy while breastfeeding.

According to a survey conducted in 2016 by the municipal women’s federation, 95.6 percent of respondents considered breastfeeding important, and 96.2 percent of respondents deemed it necessary to set up nursing rooms in public places. Incomplete statistics showed there were 278 nursing rooms in public places at the time.

Currently, the construction of nursing rooms has become one of the key priorities for Shenzhen in developing into a child-friendly city.