HUG Your Baby Website
PO Box 3102 Durham, NC USA

First Certified HUG Teacher in South Korea

Min-Sung Kwon is a registered nurse and lactation consultant from South Korea. She received her Master's degree in mental health nursing from the University of Sydney in 2013 with a thesis focusing on postpartum depression. During her Master’s degree, she found out that mothers need practical support from professionals, and Min-Sung wanted to gain the required knowledge and skills to help these mothers. Therefore, she continued her study in perinatal nursing with a particular focus on lactation support. She shares her story with us . . .

During my ongoing professional development, I met Jan Tedder and her husband, Jim, in 2013 when they started their international HUG Your Baby teaching tour in South Korea. My first impression of Hug Your Baby was that the concept of a newborn’s language was evidence-based. In addition, I thought that it would be very helpful in future to incorporate the HUG's ideas into my antenatal classes and my counseling sessions with mothers. 

After the lecture, Jan, a few of the participants and I had a chance to visit a newborn unit. During the visit, Jan carefully examined the babies and explained which Zone each baby was in. I saw the warmth and love Jan has when caring for babies. I was  also impressed by her enthusiasm to teach other professionals about a newborn’s "Zones," "SOSs" (signs of over-stimulation), and amazing abilities.

As a lactation consultant in a South Korean newborn hospital, I used The HUG to help mothers with 3-5 day olds understand their baby's behaviors. I found that The HUG provided very important opportunities for mothers to see their babies as capable individuals. After sharing the baby's behavior I saw happiness, bonding, and love in these mothers' eyes. Currently, I live in Brisbane, Australia, where I work as a home-visiting lactation consultant and provide antenatal classes every two weeks. Since I learned about HUG Your Baby, it has become easier for me to understand every baby’s behavior and to provide evidence-based advice to the mothers I serve.


Many research studies confirm that misunderstanding a baby’s behavior can lead to various issues, including breastfeeding problem, and postpartum depression. I hope that my use of The HUG as a lactation consultant encourages mothers to learn more about their babies and to breastfeed successfully. Furthermore, I believe that The HUG can boost the confidence of mothers and decrease their risk of postpartum depression. I am really thankful, and blessed, to help mothers and babies with Hug Your Baby.