Breastfeeding and going back to work Part 1

What is it about going back to work that reminds the mother of the need to regain control and exert her own identity? I remember a colleague from years ago, well before my married and babyrearing days, who conscientiously pumped her own milk every lunch hour for 45 minutes to keep her 3 month-old on breastmilk. At that time it was unknown to me the level of commitment and understanding it required for this laudable new mum to continue, let alone starting in the first place, to breastfeed her baby. She was fortunate to have a secluded part of the work place for her sole use, but not many other women are in her position.

That was in a city where legislation did not protect women's and baby's right to be fed with the most natural form of nourishment known to little babes. Hong Kong, where I come from, has pretty poor legislation for new parents - mothers are allowed 10 weeks of leave all inclusive, and how you choose to take it (2 weeks before due date and 8 after, 4 weeks before and 6 after and other variations thereof) breastfeeding is, in the majority of cases, cut short or disrrupted not long after it's been established in the first place. One friend of mine once said to me when Bump One was barely showing, that she didn't choose to breastfeed with the two that she had because she was too much of a control freak and needed to know how much milk (i.e. formula) her babies were taking in.

Where do we start to make breastfeeding acceptable to the wider Hong Kong society, in hospitals, in public, to all the picture-perfect celebrities who are all rushing to have their last chance of having the faddish thing to have - a baby - before their biological clock ticks them away towards menopause?