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Mother offers fresh alternative

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-23 07:40

Mothers-to-be learn how to breast-feed at a hospital in Weifang, Shandong province. More and more women are opting to 'go natural' in the wake of the poisoned baby milk scandal. Zhang Chi

A new mother with an eye for a business opportunity amid the poison milk scandal has stirred controversy by offering to breast-feed other children - at a price.

The 32-year-old woman surnamed Huang said she is producing more milk than her 3-month-old son can consume, so she is offering to sell the surplus, straight from the source, for 300 yuan ($44) a day.

Huang, who lives in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, said she had received about 30 phone calls from prospective clients as of Sunday, but had had no takers.

"My husband fully supports for me on this," she said.

She said she would prefer customers to live with her, or rent a house nearby, which could cost about 1,000 yuan a month, to allow their babies to benefit from the freshness of the milk.

"Human milk should be consumed within half an hour, as it starts to turn after that," she said.

Otherwise they could leave their children with her for the day.

If prospective customers have doubts about her own health or the safety of her milk, Huang said she will go with them to the hospital for a comprehensive physical examination.

"I have plenty of milk and my baby can't take it all," she said in her online advertisement under the name "Bushisgood", a pseudonmym used by her nephew, who placed the ad on the Tianyaclub.com bulletin board on Saturday.

"Every day, I have to dispose of more than 2 kg of milk, which is a great pity," Huang said.

She said she had read of "nannies in some southern cities such as Shenzhen, who earned more than 18,000 yuan a month".

"I have enough to feed two more children," she said.

Meanwhile, Huang's ad has triggered a debate on the Internet bulletin board.

One Internet user said "the mother is crazy", while another said "Modern society is full of business opportunities and it's up to you what you make of them".

Some said Huang was charging too much, but others said the product was worth the price amid the current scandal.

As for whether the mother's "business" was legal, Yang Yongtao, director of the nutrition department at a Chengdu hospital, said there are no laws forbidding it.

"Breast milk is good for babies and is recommended by the government," Yang said.

Meanwhile, wet nurses in Shenzhen are now in huge demand, as worried mothers try to find people to breast-feed their babies, the Southern Metropolis News reported yesterday.

Ai Xiaoxiong, the manager of a domestic job agency in Shenzhen said the number of phone calls looking for wet nurses has risen to 10 a day, from about 20 a year.

"There is huge demand for them," he said.

Xinhua-China Daily

(China Daily 09/23/2008 page6)