Advisory Guidelines on Babycare Facilities

Formulation of the following guidelines is the collaboration of the Food and Health Bureau, the Department of Health, the Government Property Agency, the Buildings Department, the Housing Department and the Architectural Services Department.

General

  1. The guidelines herein are intended for encouraging incorporation of babycare facilities in government premises and large scale commercial centres operated by Housing Authority that are frequented by the public. The guidelines may also be used as reference when designing private commercial premises that are accessible to the public. The Buildings Department will prepare similar advisory guidance notes for private premises encouraging the provision of babycare facilities and promulgating the design requirements for reference by building professionals and developers.
  1. The Babycare Facility includes a Babycare Room and its Supporting Provisions. The Facility serves two functions: (i) baby feeding (breastfeeding and bottlefeeding if space permits, breastfeeding only if space is limited), and (ii) nappy changing. If space is available, a cubicle should be provided for the feeding area so that it is separated from the nappy changing area. This would allow privacy for the breastfeeding mother(s) while other user(s) utilise the nappy changing facilities inside the room.
  1. From some overseas experience, the Babycare Facility could in some large developments be enhanced to mean communal facilities for men and women to care for their children, with separate nappy changing and baby feeding areas, privacy for breastfeeding mothers and a small play area. The extent of it may vary and depend on the scale, requirement and the local jurisdiction of the development. For a comparatively smaller development, the Babycare Facility may confine itself to a room for accommodating a single breastfeeding mother, with a combined feeding and nappy changing area.

The Babycare Room

  1. The Babycare Room should be universally accessible. It should preferably be located on the ground floor with level access, otherwise convenient lift access should be provided. There should be clear signs on the building directories and at other appropriate areas of the building to indicate the location of the Babycare Room. The Room should afford easy pram access, visually contrasted and unambiguously sign posted. As breastfeeding is a fundamental function of the Room, it would be undesirable to have a symbol of milk bottle for the Room’s signage. A symbol showing breastfeeding and nappy changing for a baby should be considered. An example is shown in Figure 1 for reference. Clear text, such as “Babycare Room” – “育嬰間”, could also be shown on the signage.
  1. It is not hygienic to feed babies in a toilet. The Babycare Room should not be a part of the toilet or a room within it. The Babycare Room should be a separate room. If it is located close to toilets, then proper care should be taken to avoid transmission of any foul air to the Room.
  1. The Room should be welcoming, family-friendly and safe for young children. It should be in a hygienic setting of easily cleaned finishes and non-slip floor surfaces. Management and cleansing staff should check it regularly to ensure security and hygienic condition. The Room should have good illumination and ventilation in accordance with Building (Planning) Regulation 36 where soil fitment(s), such as a sink, is provided. If mechanical ventilation is provided, a minimum performance of 10 air changes per hour should be adopted. In maintaining a comfortable environment for feeding babies, particular attention should be paid to attaining the optimal ambient temperatures of the room and health requirements, if any, applicable to the building accommodating it.

The Supporting Provisions

  1. Supporting Provisions in the Babycare Room should include the following:

(a)comfortable chair(s)/bench(es) for feeding;

(b)nappy changing table(s) with raised edge and wipeable soft mat(s) 1;

(c)sink(s) with lever tap(s) and soap dispenser(s) 2;

(d)hand drying facility, such as paper towel dispenser(s);

(e)waste container(s) with hinged cover for disposing nappies;

(f)hot and cold water dispenser (for bottlefeeding);

(g)safety mirror.

Optional facilities may include the following:

(h)disinfectant for the nappy changing mat(s), such as alcohol dispenser(s) with sensor;

(i)clothing hooks beside the chair(s)/bench(es) for feeding;

(j)small side table (for nursing mother’s belongings or for breastmilk expression equipment);

(k)electrical outlet (for breastmilk expression equipment).

Note 1. If space is available, it would be desirable to have the changing table/mat perpendicular to the wall. However, its placement should also cater for use by persons with a disability with adequate height and sufficient manoeuvring and knee spaces.

Note 2. Tap and soap dispenser with sensor would be desirable.

Privacy, Barrier Free and Spatial Provision

  1. Privacy of breastfeeding mothers is important. If space is available, a separate cubicle should be provided within the Babycare Room for the breastfeeding mother(s). Signage, such as “Breastfeeding Area, For Women Only” – “餵哺範圍，女士專用”, could be provided to indicate that only females are allowed to enter the feeding area. The door to the Babycare Room should not be lockable. If space is limited, a Babycare Room catering for a single breastfeeding mother could be provided. In such case, the signage indicating that only females are allowed to enter the room could be placed outside the room. The door to the room should be lockable, but the door lock should be capable of being opened from the outside in case of an emergency. An ‘engaged’ indicator could be incorporated into the locking mechanism.
  1. In addition to privacy, spatial provision should satisfy Barrier Free Access requirements. Sufficient manoeuvring space in the Room should be allowed for access by persons with a disability. Hypothetical layouts of Babycare Rooms are shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 for reference. As those figures are hypothetical layouts, design of a Babycare Room should be modified to suit the intended mode of usage in individual developments. Designers involved should ensure ergonomics of the layout and suitable positioning of furniture and fittings for use by persons with a disability. Attention should be paid to, for example, the required heights and knee space clearances of the provisions to ensure accessibility. Taking these into consideration, the minimum size of a Babycare Room should be about 7.5 sq.m. (3.4m x 2.2m) for a room with a breastfeeding cubicle and about 5.0 sq.m. (2.2m x 2.2m) for a single breastfeeding mother.
  1. More area should be allocated to the Babycare Room if the clientele of the premises warrants a Facility for multiple users. If more than one breastfeeding mother is expected simultaneously, it is preferable that the Room should be sufficiently spacious and more supporting provisions, such as chairs/benches and nappy changing tables, should be provided accordingly.

Provision of Babycare Facilities

  1. Bureaux and Departments (B/Ds) are encouraged to incorporate Babycare Facilities into their new projects. For existing premises, though the provision of the Facilities in these buildings may be subject to space and other constraints, B/Ds are also encouraged to incorporate them as far as practicable.
  1. Babycare Facilities are now treated as an item in the Schedule of Accommodation (SoA). It is up to the individual departments to include these facilities in their SoAs for new buildings or to add these facilities in existing accommodation, if they consider there are such needs. Template of the SoA can be found in the “Accommodation Regulations”section under the “Regulations & Guidelines” category of the front page of the Central Cyber Government Office (CCGO) via the link: SoA must be approved by the GPA for general office accommodation or by the Property Vetting Committee for specialist and departmental building, before funds are sought for any proposed additional accommodation.
  1. In determining the extent of the Facility, B/Ds may wish to ensure that their provisions are not being discriminatory towards non-breastfeeding mothers. While B/Ds may need to be mindful of the scarcity of space, the realistic needs of their clientele frequenting their premises may warrant consideration of enhanced provisions of the Babycare Facilities. On the other hand, in as much as it would be desirable that the Babycare Facility could be sufficiently extensive to cater for breastfeeding and bottlefeeding as well as nappy changing, if space is limited, the Facility may cater for breastfeeding only.