IBLCE has a FAQ document about our IBLCE Code of Professional Conduct,
including one  Q specifically addressing the issue of IBCLCs on the payroll
of formula companies:
http://www.iblce.org/upload/downloads/CodeOfConductFAQs.pdf

I think it offers at the very least a perceived conflict of interest for an
IBCLC (a healthcare provider, or HCP) to be working for a company that
sells pharmaceuticals or medical devices ... or any of the products covered
under the WHO Code.

8.2 of the WHO Code can certainly be seen as a section "open to
interpretation."  It reads, "8.2 Personnel employed in marketing products
within the scope of this Code should not, as part of their job
responsibilities, perform educational functions in relation to pregnant
women or mothers of infants and young children. This should not be
understood as preventing such personnel from being used for other functions
by the health care system at the request and with the written approval of
the appropriate authority of the government concerned."

I think it is pretty clear that the idea of HCPs being used in the sales
force, and having direct contact with mothers, is a no-no.  That sounds
like what is happening at Gerber, and we know there are other companies
that have created hot lines and websites staffed with "lactation experts."

So here is my chair-squirming question.

Think of the thousands of women working at Code-violating companies.  Some
of them work in sales ... and some of them in accounting, or the lab, or
administrative support, or in housekeeping, or human resources, or the tech
support dept.  Entirely internal.  What happens if Horrid Code Violator
Company says: "We want to provide lactation support to our employees, as
all companies are being asked to do, in a global economy where most workers
are women of child-bearing age.  And we are going to hire IBCLCs to do
that. The IBCLCs may work on site providing BFg support to our employees;
they may be available to our employees off-site for consultations or
classes or equipment supply."

Would *you* take that job?  Why or why not?

-- 
Liz Brooks JD IBCLC FILCA
ILCA President (2012-14)
Wyndmoor, PA, USA
Twitter: @LizBrooksIBCLC
FB: www.facebook.com/LizBrooksIBCLC

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