Midori Ogino champions breastfeeding as a biological gift that helps newborns survive and thrive. Making it a cultural norm and erasing societal taboos over breastfeeding in public is an investment that pays back many times over.

Ogino is a so-called lactivist not because she pushes breastfeeding at all costs, but because she thinks it is time governments invest in the promotion of breastfeeding, make every drop of breast milk count and give mothers the care they deserve.

She knows of too many Japanese women who fail to reach their breastfeeding goals because of the various barriers placed in their way. Successful breastfeeding isn't a matter of luck, rather it is the product of practical knowledge and social support, she says.