Had a very interesting experience yesterday.  We had our monthly meeting
of the LCs at our hospital and who shows up but the local MJ rep!  One
thing he wanted to share was his statistics on breastfeeding initiation
and duration.  It seems that they collect data on moms from each
hospital and then give the info to the rep who covers that hospital.
His initiation rates were nearly identical to ours.  However, when he
started talking about drop-off rates, his stats differed from the ones
we got several years ago.  It's a case of the old "hindsight is 20-20",
but there are several questions I wished I had thought to ask.  First,
where do they get the names?  Is it only from moms who have sent in
something already like the "new baby club" postcards?  If not, is the
hospital giving out the info?  If it's the latter, we have a serious
problem with confidentiality!!!  What kind of incentive do they give to
get moms to respond?  If they are offering coupons or samples of their
product, I feel the drop-off rates will be very skewed.  The moms who
are happily exclusively breastfeeding aren't as likely to respond as
they don't need or want the samples/coupons!  One point he tried to make
was that the hospitals who weren't giving out sample backs had the same
drop-off rates.  I plan to ask the moms at our weekly support group if
they have received questionaires, if they returned them, and what
incentive was offered.  Do any of you know any more about how they get
these statistics?
Be aware folks, your local rep may try to use his figures to pressure
continuing or restoring sample packs if you've been lucky enough to get
them banned.
The other thing he spent time on was the push to get long-chain fatty
acids added to AIM in the US.  He went on and on on how this would make
their product superior.  He gave the usual claim that they fully support
breastfeeding and only want those moms who choose not to or who
supplement or stop to use the best available for their babies.  Then he
tried his darndest to get us to say that "the addition of long-chain
fatty acids would make their product better than their competitors and
therefore we would be happy to recommend theirs if a mom is giving
formula since we only want what's best for the babies"!!  Needless to
say, in spite of his efforts, he ran into a solid brick wall.
BEWARE if you as much as imply that this would make their product
"closer to breastmilk" you may find yourself being quoted as endorsing
their product.
I told him my comparison that saying one formula was closer to
breastmilk is like saying Madison is closer to Hololulu than Milwaukee
(Madison is 70 miles west of Milwaukee).  He wanted me to say that the
new formulation would get them as far as San Francisco, then he tried
for Denver, but I wouldn't budge.  I kept saying it was out of our area
of expertise to tell a mom what formula to use.  We parted agreeing only
to disagree.
What makes this especially interesting is that I was the LC that worked
with his wife when she had her babies including some phone help after
she went home.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent my frustration.
Winnie

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