China’s Booming Breast-Massaging Business Not Without Risk
New mothers struggling with breastfeeding problems increasingly turn to one of China’s many breastfeeding massage companies. But the myriad unskilled swindlers profiting from the unregulated booming breast-massaging business can seriously worsen the problems breastfeeding moms are facing.
New mothers struggling with breastfeeding problems increasingly turn to one of China’s many ‘breastfeeding massage’ companies. But the myriad unskilled swindlers profiting from the unregulated booming breast-massaging business can seriously worsen breastfeeding problems.
Breastfeeding moms dealing with difficulties in giving milk or suffering from inflamed breasts increasingly turn to ‘breastfeeding masseuses’ instead of going to the hospital, Xinhua news reports. But because breastfeeding massage companies are unregulated, masseuses often overcharge their clients, are unskilled and have no medical knowledge about breastfeeding massage – which may do more harm than good to new mothers.
High prices, high risks
According to Shanghai Daily, the price for a one-hour massage can be as high as 600 RMB (±US$100), and the safety risk is high.
Sina News recently reported on Weibo that a woman from Xiamen spent thousands of dollars on breastfeed massages to ensure a good milk flow for her baby, but then got mastitis due to improper treatment.
Students at a ‘breast-massage’ training center (催乳服务中心), image by 315org.
“If you come across unprofessional treatments, please file a complaint and demand compensation,” one netizen says: “Make sure other mothers are not harmed by these kinds of people!”
Breastfeeding versus baby formula
The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continuous breastfeeding for two years or longer to support the healthy growth and development of babies. But in China, only 30% of new Chinese moms achieve exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months – some of the world’s lowest breastfeeding numbers.
Exclusive breastfeeding is relatively unpopular in China due to a preference for baby formula. China’s breastfeeding percentages declined in the 1970s when baby formula producers such as Nestlé (雀巢奶粉) started promoting their products in Chinese hospitals, causing a surge in the popularity and use of milk powder. Over a third of China’s newborns are given baby formula as their first feed.
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According to Women of China, there are also other factors that contribute to China’s breastfeeding problem, such as the absence of a wide societal support system. This includes the short length of maternity leave in the private sector and the general lack of facilities to breastfeed.
All of these factors have made many new moms insecure about breastfeeding. Masseuse Shi Guilan says breastfeeding difficulties have become increasingly common due to stress. According to Shanghai Daily, there are mothers who feel more confident about feeding their babies after going to a breastfeeding masseuse.
Unregulated booming business
Although treatment helps some mothers, there are also many cases where it worsens their problems. According to Xinhua news, the profession of breastfeeding masseuse is not regulated, and therefore has no basic standards or supervision.
As Xinhua writes: “Most breastfeeding masseuses are middle-aged women with no higher education or medical training. They usually start distributing business cards to expectant mothers in hospitals once they finish a few courses and obtain the basic massage certificate. (…) They could solve the real problem, or make things worse. There is just no guarantee.”
Xinhua reports that some women needed surgery after their breast ducts were irreparably damaged by unskilled masseuses.
“Such a chaotic society, this needs to be investigated,” one worried netizen reacts.
Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.
Since August 24th, when Japan started the release of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima power plant into the ocean, a myriad of related topics have surged across Chinese social media platforms.
The dissemination of news concerning the Fukushima wastewater discharge, amplified by Chinese media outlets, has sparked considerable unrest in various ways.
Among these is the phenomenon of salt hoarding. There have been dozens of posts on Weibo showing extreme examples of people stockpiling salt. In some places, people queued for up to an hour to buy salt while early-bird shoppers left stores with heavily laden shopping carts.
China also saw instances of salt hoarding in 2011, just after the tsunami and Fukushima disaster. Some people equate ‘salt’ to ‘sea salt’ and they are concerned that salt stocks could potentially become contaminated due to the Fukushima wastewater. But there is also a general belief that salt consumption could provide protection against exposure to radioactivity.
Nonetheless, regular table salt does not actually provide protection against radiation, and consuming excessive amounts of iodized salt could potentially pose health risks on its own.
While scientists and critics find the recent panic to be unfounded – emphasizing that Japan’s actions fall within the safety limits of the Atomic Energy Agency and that the environmental impact is minimal, – a prevailing skepticism toward Western powers combined with official media boosting news concerning the discharge of radioactive water, ensures that Fukushima-related fears and misconceptions remain pervasive.
The concerns surrounding Fukushima have already had negative consequences for many business owners in China, especially for some Japanese-style restaurant owners who felt the need to change their theme, change their name, or explicitly state that their ingredients are not actually coming from Japan.
Meanwhile, there are also some who are trying to capitalize on the situation for profit.
One Japanese-style restaurant in Shanghai’s Hongqiao recently starting offering a so-called “anti radiation” set meal (“防辐射”套餐). The set meal, which was first introduced on online platform Dianping, included ingredients such as tomatoes, edamame, tofu, and spinach.
The Japanese restaurant introduced the menu on the 25th, a day after Japan started discharging the first batch of wastewater into the ocean. While various Chinese media write that there is no scientific basis for the radiation-blocking effects of these foods, the restaurant stated they no longer use any products from Japan and that ingredients used are all sourced locally.
According to various news posts, the restaurant compiled the menu through research and seeking advice from a nutritionist. The restaurant also associated each dish with particular benefits, including claims of “reducing skin damage” or “stimulating cell growth.”
But soon after the restaurant had put their anti-radiation menu online, it became a big topic of discussion, with one related hashtag on Weibo getting over 140 million views (#上海一日料店上架防辐射套餐#).
“Of course, the next step is to make a quick buck by pushing anti-radiation products,” one popular comment said (using the phrase gē jiǔcài 割韭菜, ‘harvesting chives,’ also explained in our latest newsletter).
Other people wondered why one would order such a menu if you might as well cook the exact same things at home. “Why would I pay 28 yuan for tomato with seasoning?”
Meanwhile, Chinese media outlets, citing legal experts, focused more on the legal problems surrounding the menu, suggesting that making false claims is against the law.
Following the controversy, the restaurant has now pulled its menu offline.
Nonetheless, the restaurant won’t be the first or the last business owner to profit from Fukushima fear and anger. While some are selling anti-radiation tablets, others are selling t-shirts with slogans opposing Japan’s decision to discharge the wastewater.
T-shirt sold on Taobao opposing the “ocean dumping” of Fukushima wastewater (screenshot via Whatsonweibo).
On Weibo, local authorities and media accounts are cautioning consumers against purchasing ineffective products that offer no protection against radiation exposure, reiterating that buying loads of salt will not help either.
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A suspected case of Mpox (monkeypox) reported in Shenyang, Liaoning, has become a top trending topic on Chinese social media this week.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the results of local lab tests, giving a positive result for the monkeypox virus.
The case was first reported on June 29th and official diagnosis with the monkeypox virus was confirmed on July 3rd.
The patient is currently undergoing isolation treatment in a designated medical institution, and their condition is stable.
Monkeypox (Mpox) is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It is characterized by symptoms such as a skin rash or ulcers, accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. Mpox can be transmitted to humans through physical contact with infected individuals, contaminated materials, or infected animals.
On Chinese social media, there is a significant concern expressed by many individuals regarding a possible outbreak of Mpox. People are seeking information on preventive measures to avoid contracting the virus and expressing their strong desire for the virus to remain distant from them. After experiencing the impact of the Covid pandemic for years, another virus outbreak is the last thing people want to encounter or hear about.
“Retreat! Fetreat! Retreat!” meme posted on Weibo in response to the monkeypox case in Liaoning.
“Do not come over” meme.
“This is still an issue that needs to be taken seriously because once the first case emerges, there may be subsequent cases,” one commenters says: “It requires the collective efforts of various local departments to thoroughly control and contain it from spreading any further.”
“When I see this kind of news, I silently pick up my face mask, take my Vitamine C, and take out my dusty disinfectant again,” another person writes.
During May 2022, an outbreak of monkeypox was identified in the United Kingdom. Two months later, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the outbreak as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” As of March of the current year, over 113 countries had reported a cumulative total of 86,516 confirmed cases. However, in May, the WHO declared the global health emergency to be concluded.
At the time of this global outbreak, there was some controversy when a chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention warned locals against touching foreigners to avoid getting infected. This happened a day after the first case in China was detected in September of 2022.
Update July 8: Another case of mpox went trending on Chinese social media on Saturday, this time it concerns a case detected in Tianjin.
On July 6th,the suspected case of monkeypox was reported. The Chinese Center for disease Control and Prevention later confirmed the case through testing. The patient is undergoing isolation treatment in a designated medical institution, and their condition is stable.
On Weibo, the hashtag “Case of Monkeypox Detected in Tianjin” (#天津发现一例猴痘#) attracted over 150 million views on Saturday. On Friday, three new cases of monkeypox in Changsha also attracted attention on social media (#长沙发现3例猴痘病例#).
“Why do I feel like this is 2019?” some people write, seemingly concerned about another major outbreak. Nevertheless, the way of contracting monkeypox is vastly different and not comparable to Covid, as it mostly spreads through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact (or mouth-to-skin, mouth-to-mouth). People who have contact with clothing, bedding, towels, objects, electronics, and other surfaces that have been touched by someone with monkeypox are also at risk.
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