Gonneke wrote:
>  In fact it is not about the showing of bottles and even teats, but  
> the not-mentioning of breastfeeding (at-breastfeeding) as the norm  
> and the lack of acknowledgment that breastfeeding is much more than  
> pouring the best nutrients into an infant.
>

A few years ago Medela produced a nicely multicultural series of  
posters of breastfeeding mothers and babies .  It bothered me that in  
every one of the posters the baby's eyes were closed.  I believe this  
was a calculated decision to downplay the loving gaze that mothers  
and babies exchange while nursing.  Not everyone agrees with me on  
this, and some have said that perhaps the babies all fell into a  
contented sleep while nursing.  But I remain skeptical that the baby  
would be sleeping in every one of the posters showing different  
mothers and infants.

It is common knowledge that one of the most often cited reasons  
mothers give for choosing to breastfeed is the bonding they  
experience with their babies.  Any pump company's obligation to its  
shareholders is to promote and sell its products and make a profit.   
Encouraging mothers to savor the experience of feeding at the breast  
does not always foster that goal.  I think the nursing babies in the  
posters, all with eyes closed, was not an accident.

Looking at the Medela web site, I see the company has made efforts to  
provide breastfeeding information written with the help of well- 
qualified IBCLCs (some of them Lactnetters), and I commend those  
efforts.  (Ameda has done that as well.)  We have to hope their  
voices will be heard within the companies and will influence the  
corporate behaviors.

Anne Altshuler, RN, MS, IBCLC, LLL leader
Madison, WI

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