In a society that “still favors caesarean sections and formula above natural birth and breast milk”, new peaceful parental counter movement groups are forming and are questioning the reliance of Chinese mothers on formula milk instead of breast milk and cesarean births instead of natural ones. According to statistics, “Chinese women are more likely to have caesarean births than any other nationality in the world”, with 46% of births being c-section cesarian type. It is also common that formula (especially foreign formula) is favored over breast feeding. But times are changing, one member of Chengdu baby group Weimima states “I don’t want my daughter going to kindergarten with children who grew up drinking formula instead of breast milk, because that is unnatural”. However, these new-thinking groups are still in the minority, with the majority of people being pressured by older relatives and friends into using formula milk and not breast feeding, over fears that breast milk is simply not enough for the child, and does not contain sufficient vitamins and infant formula groups are preparing for a huge boom in sales over the next 5-10 years, due to the high number of babies expected in 2012, the Year of the Dragon. At a recent one year anniversary of the founding of the Chengdu breastfeeding baby group, the event drew in more than 200 people to a park in the city. A member of the group said that “people here are desperate for information and support”, or simply to feel as though they are not alone.
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