A legal analysis on breastfeeding protection: a comparative study between Malaysia and Australia / Norfarah Zulkornain M.Sia … [et al.]

Breast-milk is the best food for infants. Notwithstanding this fact, the practice of breastfeeding has been overlooked by people nowadays. Moreover, this practice is threatened by aggressive marketing of designated products and lack of breastfeeding-friendly environment. The absence of comprehensive laws in Malaysia that provide protection on breastfeeding makes it more difficult to protect breastfeeding. This research aims to analyze legal protections of breastfeeding in Malaysia and Australia, to point out the differences of legal protections applied in both countries as well as to recommend legal measures to remedy the flaws in our laws in protecting breastfeeding. From the research, the result shows that legal protections of breastfeeding in both countries are different. Australia has more comprehensive protections than Malaysia. Thus, the laws should be enhanced in order to provide better breastfeeding protections in Malaysia.