Campaign to help moms find breastfeeding rooms

"I feel uncomfortable about the hygiene issue of pumping milk in toilets, so sometimes I have to throw that milk away," she said.

The 32-year-old said when she takes her child out, she has to bring a bottle of formula milk or even a cookie as a backup plan because in most cases she cannot find such breastfeeding rooms and feels too embarrassed to breastfeed in public.

The rate of exclusive breastfeeding until the internationally recommended standard of six months has kept falling in Asia, said Mellsop, adding that in China only about 28 percent of mothers have managed to do so.

Volunteers with babies participate in the "10m2 of Love" campaign in Beijing on May 30, 2013. [Photo by Zou Hong/Asianewsphoto]

The situation is gradually changing in China thanks to advocacy and media reports of breastfeeding's advantages.

"I asked a friend to buy milk powder for me from the US after I got pregnant, but later I was lucky to get from another friend a brochure that teaches new moms the idea of breastfeeding, so I decided to breastfeed," said Chen Zhiming, a mother of a 19-month-old boy in Beijing.

"My son is taller and heavier than most of his peers," said Chen, 28.

Rutstein from UNICEF said more than 30 companies, including big domestic and transnational companies in eight cities, have joined the campaign since his organization released information via social media.

He said dozens of volunteers from 15 cities have been mobilized to promote the campaign and give consultations to companies and public institutions.

Wang Lixin, a child-nursing expert retired from the National Center for Women and Children's Health, said that although companies with more than five breastfeeding employees are required by law to set up a special room in the workplaces, the law has not been enforced well.

Such a campaign will help promote the idea and pressure employers to take action to create a friendly environment for breastfeeding mothers, she said.