What a delight that?formula reps and staff hate Banthebags.org. As co-chair of the Ban the Bags campaign in the US, this just makes my day! One wonders if people are for real on that forum! As always, anyone wishing to eliminate the bags (that reduce exclusive breastfeeding at all points measured between 0-6 months) please visit www.Banthebags.org for materials that you may need. I am always pleased to help anyone individually to customize an approach or response to their hospital. Wouldn't it be nice if the reps could see nursing staff on the maternity unit all drinking coffee out of their Ban the Bags coffee mug!
Trying to navigate through the Code can be a daunting affair. The Code does not always give us guidance where we want. There is a difference between being Code compliant and being breastfeeding friendly. Poster of babies with their eyes closed at the breast have nothing to do with the Code. These are perceptions and feelings that some people have when they see these. We need to hold all companies to the aims, articles, and resolutions of the Code. However, much of what I see discussed here are really not Code issues but frustrations about the lack of support for breastfeeding, or the outright presentation of barriers. Photos of feeding bottles and artificial nipples on a website is picked up as a Code violation, period. It does not matter if the company says it supports breastfeeding.
If we really want to have a national maternity leave policy in the US, then we need to start making this clear to our elected legislators. Some mothers in the US must return to work as early as 4 weeks after birth. This goes beyond that they will need bottles to feed their baby. We need to lobby for paid maternity leave. There is a very good article on this topic that I urge people to read and send to their legislators along with request to file legislation for paid?maternity leave:
Calnen G. Paid maternity leave and its impact on breastfeeding in the United States: an historic, economic, political, and social perspective. Breastfeeding Medicine 2007; 2:34-44
In a little over a year, we will hopefully get a new administration that is more interested in health than it is in catering to industry. Complaining about mothers not being able to stay with their babies will not make this happen. Consider joining Mom's Rising, www.momsrising.org,?and participate in their campaign to advocate for the breastfeeding bill filed by Rep Malone and to join their campaign to insist that the presidential candidates talk about family values and helping real families.
I have not seen the YouTube?video. However, if it has been planted by Nestle there may be a few things to be done. You can complain to YouTube under YouTube's Terms of Use. Read these carefully as it exempts YouTube from responsibility for most of what is put there. You can complain to Baby Milk Action since they are the lead organization in the Nestle boycott. You can ask people to avoid visiting YouTube, especially the video in question. Contact You Tube with the complaint?regarding comments being censored or blocked and see what they say. The internet is a free for all, especially that site.
Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA
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