Good morning Hong Kong Island mums and mums to be! Our next series meeting is 9.30-11.00am Tuesday 12 November at the Methodist Church, 271 Queen's Rd East, Wanchai and we will be talking about starting solids with your baby.

Even if you are pregnant or your baby is too young to start solids, please come along as all are welcome and there will be lots of opportunities to ask questions and discuss other issues. 

Any questions please call Pauline on 6331 5078 and we look forward to seeing you there!

Good morning Lantau Island mums and mums-to-be!

Our next meet-up here in Discovery Bay will be a coffee shop meeting held at Zaks in the south plaza this Thursday 17th October, from 9.30am to 11.00am. 

Please contact Sandrine on 51831979 for any queries.

Please note you do not need to be a member to come along to our meet-ups, although membership has some great perks including free breastfeeding magazine and loan of books from our library. Also, it helps us to continue to run our meetings and train new leaders to support breastfeeding mothers.

Babies and nursing toddlers are of course welcome.

We hope to see you there, and feel free to invite your pregnant and breastfeeding friends! 

Good afternoon Lantau Island mums and mums-to-be!

Hello!

Our next meet-up in Discovery Bay will be on Thursday 20th June, 9.30am - 11.30am, in the Greens. 

Please contact Sandrine at 51831979 for directions.

Please note you do not need to be a member to come along to our meet-ups, although membership has some great perks including free loan of books from our library. 

We hope to see you there, and feel free to invite your pregnant and breastfeeding friends! Babies and nursing toddlers are of course welcome.

Warm regards,

La Leche League Lantau Team

Hi all,

We will be holding our Annual General Meeting before tomorrow's coffee meet up at Holly Brown's Cafe, Central (details found here). The AGM will begin at 9.30am and will wrap up at 10am in time for our usual monthly coffee break.

The AGM is open to all to attend!

Warm regards,

The LLL Team

Hi all!

Just a quick reminder - when submitting an online query please make sure you complete all the necessary fields, especially contact details. Your queries are important to us and without an email address or phone number we won't be able to get in touch with you..

Thanks,

Elena

Hello and thank you for visiting our new website! We hope you enjoy browsing and checking out some of the new functions this updated site offers...

Below is Caroline's letter published in today's newspaper....

Standing up to milk brands' machinery

I refer to the letter from Clara Shek, of the Council of Public Relations Firms of Hong Kong ("Baby milk marketing ban a blunt weapon that will hurt HK", March 16).

It was interesting to see yet another self-interested commercial group complain about the proposed Hong Kong Code of Marketing of Formula Milk.

Formula manufacturers are likely to spend much of their annual marketing budget of HK$1.6 billion to fight the proposal to ban all marketing activities on formula milk for children less than three years old. They are concerned about losing some of their substantial profits.

Despite their assertions that there is no evidence their marketing affects breastfeeding rates, recently published research by the University of Hong Kong shows that the rate has risen substantially in public hospitals since free formula samples were no longer provided. It also shows that the best predictor for short-duration or no breastfeeding is the early introduction of formula.

If the manufacturers, promoters and retailers of formula had provided "honest advertising content" and "legitimate marketing operations", there would be no need for the code. The World Health Organisation introduced the worldwide code in 1981 as a direct result of unscrupulous marketing activities by formula manufacturers, and these continue, albeit in a different form, today.

No baby over the age of 12 months needs formula but 77 per cent of four-year-olds in Hong Kong still drink it because advertising has convinced them it is required, even though culturally the Chinese consume few, if any, dairy products.

The Department of Health needs to address the underlying reasons for poor breastfeeding rates in Hong Kong - and there are many. But at least it's starting where it knows it will have the biggest impact.

It is hard for the government, non-profit and volunteer groups to counterbalance the claims of such a big industry which can - and will - spend money on advertising and numerous other forms of marketing, including to medical professionals, that help it to grow its market.

It is in the public interest that there be a level playing field of information about formula milk rather than the one-sided information that is available through the current so-called free market.

Caroline Carson, La Leche League Hong Kong

Next Meeting in Wan Chai
Tuesday April 9th
* 9:30 am to 11:00 am 

For information please call 6331-5078 

(Methodist Church, 271 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong.)
The venue is on the corner of Kennedy Road and Queen's Road East with excellent public transport links. Parking is available in the Hopewell Centre (entrance on Kennedy Road) and at The Zenith, Queen's Road East, No. 258.