New products and services for babies needing support
Expanding use of products designed for maternity hospitals

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The Tiny Birth Cry Support Project

Babies born prematurely, babies with low birthweights, and babies born with medical conditions that require special treatment. Pigeon’s Tiny Birth Cry Support Project is designed to help these babies, in the hope that every family can experience peace of mind and happiness.

Products for Babies Who Need Special Care

Committed to enabling all babies to enjoy better sucking, Pigeon conducts joint research with neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) at hospitals and clinics and works in other ways to develop exclusive products so that infants with low birthweight or disabilities can drink breast milk and packaged milk with minimal effort. These include a nursing bottle for babies with cleft lips and/or palates and nursing nipples for babies with weak sucking. We also offer a special Preemie Care pacifier for babies born prematurely to help ease the pain of treatments and procedures. In 2022, we launched Precious Drop, a device that supports the collection of colostrum from mothers to ensure that premature and low birthweight babies get as much of the motherʼs precious colostrum as possible, specifically for clinics and maternity wards. In China, we developed a special oil for low birthweight babies to alleviate issues caused by underdeveloped skin. In 2024, we launched Silicone Long Nipple Feeder, renewed a feeder with a long silicone nipple for babies who have difficulty breastfeeding directly or with artificial nipples due to cleft lips and/or palates or medical conditions. Our accumulated expertise, gained from our constant support of babies in need of specialized care, is reflected in our manufacturing activities and is directly linked to the superior performance of Pigeon-brand products

Activities for Babies Needing Special Care and Their Families:
Photo Exhibition “Drops of Love ~ Hand-in-Hand with Supporting Professionals”

To promote awareness of Precious Drop, a device that supports the collection of colostrum, among healthcare professionals, a photo exhibition titled “Drops of Love ~ Hand-in-Hand with Supporting Professionals” was held at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Maternal Health in 2023. More than half of the participants (approximately 1,000 people) were midwives. The exhibition showcased the backstory of Precious Drop and photos depicting its usage scenes, aiming to convey the features of the product, as well as the images of prematurely born babies and their families, to healthcare professionals in the field.

Activities for Babies Needing Special Care and Their Families: Support of Human Milk Banks

As part of our activities for babies and families in need of specialized care, we support human milk banks*1 in Japan, China, India, Vietnam, and elsewhere. In 2020, we opened the Nihonbashi Human Milk Bank, the second of its kind in Japan at the time, on the first floor of our Head Office. Through campaigns donating a portion of sales from breast pads, breast pumps, and breast milk storage bags to the Japan Human Milk Bank Association, as well as conducting awareness surveys regarding human milk banks, we have been conducting outreach activities to raise awareness about human milk banks.
In China in 2020, we became the first main partner in the Beijing Chunmiao Charity Foundationʼs special human milk bank fund, and between then and July 2023, we donated a total of RMB 1 million (roughly ¥19 million), contributing to the opening of human milk banks in six hospitals, including Fujian Childrenʼs Hospital, Beijing Huaxin Hospital (the First Hospital of Tsinghua University), and Kunming Childrenʼs Hospital in Yunnan province. Since our support began, these human milk banks have provided a total of 2.2 million ml*2 to more than 1,600 babies born prematurely. We aim to enhance our corporate value by contributing to the resolution of social issues surrounding babies and their families in various countries.

*1 These facilities collect breast milk donations, pasteurize them at low heat for safety, and provide the breast milk to babies with very low birthweight (less than 1,500 g
at birth) whose mothers are unable to provide enough breast milk to them due to illness or lactation issues.
*2 An average of approximately 1,300 ml of donor milk is provided per baby.

  • The Newly Established Human Milk Bank at Kunming Childrenʼs Hospital

    The Newly Established Human Milk Bank at Kunming Childrenʼs Hospital

Activities for Babies Needing Special Care and Their Families: Supporting Babies with a Cleft Lip and/or Palate

The Pigeon Group engages in activities to support babies with a cleft lip and/or palate* in various parts of the world, including China, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. In 2023, we conducted a campaign in China in collaboration with the nonprofi t organization Operation Smile to raise awareness about cleft lips and/or palates and to raise funds for surgical costs. Ten employees participated in this campaign. In addition, employees from Pigeon Singapore Pte. Ltd. volunteered to participate in a charity event called “#Fitness4Smiles,” where teams took turns cycling in a relay format. Donations were made corresponding to the total kilometers ridden by a team. The six teams, consisting of 18 members from Pigeon Singapore, collected approximately ¥500,000 in support of babies with a cleft lip and/or palate. Pigeon also provides administrative support during surgeries. Beyond donating products and engaging in fundraising activities, local employees volunteer their time to provide assistance. By supporting babies and their families and collaborating with healthcare professionals, we aim to strengthen and enhance our brand power.

* A cleft lip and/or palate is a congenital condition characterized by an opening or a split in the roof of the mouth, involving either the soft palate, the hard palate, or both,
and/or a fi ssure in the lip.

Seminars for General Consumers and Seminars for Healthcare Professionals

The Pigeon Group organizes online seminars and events for general consumers in various countries. In Japan, we hold the Breastfeeding College seminar, where participants can learn from obstetricians and midwives about breastfeeding. We also collaborate with a drugstore to conduct joint seminars, focusing on practical lessons on bathing and moisturizing led by experienced mothers, as well as skincare product tutorials led by Pigeon employees, targeting expecting mothers and fathers. In 2023, 3,920 people participated in these events. In addition, overseas, we conduct numerous seminars on breastfeeding and baby teeth care.
The Pigeon Group also conducts seminars in diff erent countries specifi cally designed for healthcare professionals, such as doctors, midwives, nurses, public health nurses, dieticians, and pharmacists, who provide breastfeeding and lactation support. The seminars provide valuable information that can be applied in their care and support activities. Healthcare professionals from hospitals around the world participated again in 2023. In Japan, we hold seminars focusing on breastfeeding support and postpartum care, while in China, we organize seminars on skin issues in premature and low birthweight infants, providing information including the features of our baby oil. We will continue to foster awareness and build trust in hospitals and maternity centers through seminars tailored for healthcare professionals.

  • A Seminar in China Showcasing the Use of Our Baby Oil

    A Seminar in China Showcasing the Use of Our Baby Oil

Pigeon Preterm Infant Health Insurance (China)

In November 2018, Pigeon (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. partnered with Ping An Insurance Company of China, Ltd. to establish the country’s first “preterm infant health insurance.” While neonatal care is advancing in China, currently many families are obliged to cut treatment short for economic reasons. This insurance supports families with premature babies by providing relief for such economic burdens.

Our Sustainable Actions "Pigeon Preterm Infant Health Insurance (China) "

Mental health support for families of late preterm infants: The Pigeon Smile Lactation Research Institute

In March 2014, we launched the Pigeon Smile Lactation Research Institute in collaboration with various specialists on mothers and babies during breastfeeding, with the aim of identifying issues regarding the breastfeeding period and offering solutions. Since 2018, we have conducted research aimed at better understanding the feelings of mothers of late preterm babies (those born 34–36 weeks after conception) who have been admitted to NICUs or growing care units (GCUs), and we have presented our findings at academic
conferences. Our research revealed the need to provide emotional support to mothers of babies born prematurely. As part of our support efforts, we worked with members of our research team to produce a booklet for the families of late preterm babies admitted to NICUs/GCUs and distributed it free of charge.

  • Academic presentation at the 59th General Meeting of the Japan Society of Maternal Health

  • Support booklet for families of late preterm babies admitted to NICUs/GCUs

Lactation Research Activities: Pigeon Smile Lactation Research Institute

In 2014, we launched the Pigeon Smile Lactation Research Institute, where we work with specialists involved with mothers, fathers, and babies to identify issues during the breastfeeding period and provide solutions to them. Seeking to “Create a society that values more babies growing up healthy and more mothers and fathers finding happiness in childrearing,” in 2016 we produced the Happy Breastfeeding Support Book, a comprehensive compilation of information on nursing. As of December 2022, we had distributed around 890,000 copies of this booklet free of charge.

The Happy Breastfeeding Support Book, a booklet for mothers and fathers about the period from pregnancy to lactation (Japanese site)

Establishing and supporting lactation lounges

Pigeon is committed to fostering environments in which any mother can raise babies on breast milk with peace of mind, and to supporting mothers who wish to return to the workplace after childbirth. To this end, Pigeon has helped to establish or offers ongoing support to around approximately 270 lactation lounges in 20 countries and regions (as of December 2023).*

* From 2013 to 2021, Pigeon supported around 10,000 lactation lounges in China, contributing to the establishment of a nursing environment. As of December 2022, Pigeon supported a total of approximately 450 lactation lounges in 24 countries. As of December 2021, Pigeon supported a total of 11,005 lactation lounges in 23 countries.However, in 2022, Pigeon began to shift its focus to more challenging issues in China, including helping to establish human milk banks to support low birthweight babies, donating funds and products to support babies with cleft lip and/or palate, and participating in volunteer activities to support babies in need of specialist care.

Our Sustainable Actions "Supporting Human Milk Bank for Babies Born Small (China)"

Our Sustainable Actions "Supporting Babies with Cleft Lip and/or Palate (China)"

Baby Friendly Future Project

In 2021, we launched the Baby Friendly Future Project, which connects ideas and action across the entire company in order to create a baby-friendly future.
We began offering an educational program for Japanese junior high school students called “Lesson for Learning About Babies: For a More Baby-Friendly Future,” and have provided teaching materials to around 130 schools so that teachers can teach the lesson to their students.

For more information about our Baby Friendly Future Project, see here (Japanese).

Vision of a Baby-Friendly Future website

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