Dear Lactnetters

I received this posting from Lily Fountain CNM via a
discussion group sponsored by the American College of
Nurse Midiwives.  The motion she made at the ACNM
convention in New Orleans this week was supported by a
unanimous vote of the ACNM membership.  Hurray!

Here's what Lily wrote.

I am pleased to let you know that the American College
of Nurse-Midwives just unanimously approved the
following motion, introduced by me and seconded by Jan
Weingrad-Smith, CNM, incoming chair of the MCH section
of the American Public Health Association. I delivered
the first minute of my testimony below, and Debbie
Jessup, chair of Division of Women's Health Policy
Policy and Leadership, and Jan provided wonderful
testimony; Catherine Salam, CNM, Maryland Chapter
chair was waiting in the wings but time to speak was
severely restricted. There was great applause for the
issue from the over 500 midwives present.


I move to recommend to the Board of Directors that
ACNM publicize our support for the National
Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign by writing to the
Secretary of the DHHS Tommy Thompson to request the
immediate release of the campaign; and sending out a
press release calling upon the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services  (DHHS) to immediately
release the breastfeeding campaign public service
announcements.

Motion from Lily Fountain, CNM, MS, Region IV, Chapter
III

Seconded by Jan Weingrad-Smith, CNM, MS, ACNM
representative to the APHA

Breastfeeding Campaign: Testimony for Motion
I know that every midwife here is not only an expert,
but also an advocate for breastfeeding. So here is
some background on the National Breastfeeding
Awareness Campaign.  The Surgeon General's Blueprint
for Action on Breastfeeding outlined several steps to
meet the Healthy People 2010 goals and a media
campaign was one of the steps. The ACNM was ably
represented during this process by Sarah Danner and
Marion McCartney; the American Public Health
Association was also represented by a nurse-midwife
Jan Weingrad- Smith. The U.S DHHS Office of Women's
Health collaborated with the Ad Council , author of
many major public health campaigns such as 'Smokey the
Bear', seat belt safety, and 'Friends Don't Let
Friends Drive Drunk'. The market research indicated
what many of us in the trenches know:  women know
breastfeeding is best, but think formula is okay.  How
many of us drive the BEST car? Most of us drive a Ford
or a Toyota, not a Lexis or Ferrari.  The ad campaign
has been developed to change the focus of social
marketing from “Breast is Best” to the risks of not
breastfeeding.  The message is “You’d never take risks
while you are pregnant; why start when the baby’s
born?”  The ads say that babies who are not breastfed
through six months are more likely to contract ear and
other infections. This is the first evidence-based
advertising campaign.


This exciting, effective advertising campaign was due
to be released last year. It was stopped in its tracks
when the President of the American Academy of
Pediatrics sent a letter to Secretary Thompson last
November praising the campaign in principle but
criticizing the “negative approach”.  But I ask you,
how many of us wear seat belts because it’s “best”? I
think most of us wear seat belts because we’ve seen
those crash dummies and crumpled cars. In fact, the
AAP president sent this letter without consulting the
Breastfeeding Section of his own organization,
composed of 800 Pediatrician experts in Breastfeeding,
which is totally in favor of the campaign as
originally formulated.  The chair of the AAP Section
on Breastfeeding also emailed colleagues that
Congressmen and other policymakers have been lobbied
by pharmaceutical  companies on  this issue. By the
way, in 2002, formula sales generated nearly $2.1
billion in sales for Ross alone. A grassroots effort
among consumers, lactation consultants, nurses,
midwives and others to lobby Secretary Thompson ensued
that kept the issue alive, but the campaign has yet to
be released. Even the curtailed version of the ad
campaign that was supposed to be released this spring
has not appeared. This delay in releasing this strong
advertising campaign is a disservice to US women,
infants and families.  The ACNM has an obligation as a
leading provider of women’s health care to get this
message out to the public. A press release on this
issue will also remind the public that midwives are
experts and advocates for breastfeeding. I urge you to
pass this motion.
Lily Fountain CNM, 2004 ACNM Convention and Annual
Meeting, New Orleans, LA.

I (JD) saw the 20/20 program and was thrilled with the
coverage of this issue.  That, and the ACNM motion
give me some hope that we may finally see real support
for BF by our government.  It has been my dream for
awhile now that breastfeeding will become the norm in
my lifetime.  Maybe it will actually come true.

Regards,

Janet DeCoopman CNM
Shorewood, WI

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