Hello, All.
       I need some input on a situation I find myself in.  A year or two ago,
I was asked to speak at a Saturday morning breakfast presentation for parents
at a national chain that carries various baby items.  I had about 20 minutes,
because there were 2 other speakers in the same one-hour "breakfast".  I
talked about either the early days of breastfeeding ("getting started") or the
advantages--I can't remember for sure right now.  I did not get paid, but I could
hand out information about my business to all attendees.  I was happy to have
the opportunity to get out the word, both about breastfeeding and about my
business.
       Fast forward to now.  I carry several brands of breastpumps in my
office.  A rep for one of the breastpump companies contacted me last week.  This
company has started national accounts, and one of them is the national chain
where I previously spoke.  The chain is still doing the same free parent
breakfasts once a month.  The breastpump company wanted to be involved in these and
negotiated how that might happen.  (At least, this is my understanding from
what I was told on the phone.)  The result was that the breastpump company was
asked to contact LCs who carried/were familiar with the breastpump company's
product.  To my pleasant surprise, the rep told me that the pump company pointed
out to the national chain that LCs are professionals whose time is valuable
and as such should be paid.  They worked out an amount to pay the LCs who show
up for the presentations.  I thought it was wonderful that the pump company
should go to bat for us as "professionals", negotiate a payment, and that the
national chain agreed to pay us.  The LCs are to be paid by the national chain,
not the pump company.  I was asked to be the local LC who would service the
presentations at the local store of the national chain.  I was not told that I
would have to "push" the pump company's products.  Nothing at all was said about
that.  I was told that I would work out topics with the national chain, as I
had done a year or so ago.
       In my phone conversation with the pump company rep, I readily agreed
to do this, since it seemed basically like what I had done previously, but now
I would receive a stipend for my time.
       Two days later, I began to wonder if this goes against IBCLC ethics.
The national chain carries various bottles/artificial nipples as well as
breastfeeding items and many other baby items.  I don't remember if I ever saw
artificial baby milk there.  But just selling ABM and/or bottles/nipples does not
go against WHO code.  And, although I need to call the local store to be sure
it is still the same way, last year there was no underwriting of the
presentation from any ABM manufacturers.  (When I was last there, one of the other
speakers was a rep from a national bottle manufacturer, talking about their
product.  In fact, she and I engaged in a friendly debate in front of the attendees
about which nipple shape was best for breastfed babies, as there was more than
one shape option in her product line.)
       What I'm not sure about, because we only get the local newspaper, not
the larger one from the nearest metropolitan city, is if this company ever
runs ads that feature bottles or ABM.  I can call to find out, but before I do, I
want to know what repercussions the answer might have for me.  If they do
sometimes feature advertising for these products, does that put me in violation
of IBCLC ethics, even though the presentations are not directly
underwritten/sponsored by the manufacturers?    If they do run such ads, would I be alright
ethically if I turn down the stipend?
       I was really excited about the chance to put accurate breastfeeding
information out into the community and to hand out information about my business
as well.  But now I'm not sure if I can ethically do this.  Yet this national
chain reaches many parents, an opportunity I'm not likely to find around here
if I have to automatically turn down potential speaking engagements from any
similar national company.
       I appreciate your thoughts on this.
       Dee

Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC, RLC
Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html