These are the most-sold shields in Norway and I have seen more of them than
I care to remember.  Until the arrival on our market of Chicco LATEX nipple
shields, which are not possible to apply to an adult, lactating breast at
all, I didn't like Avent much.  Now I actively recommend them over Chicco,
which cost twice what Avent's do here, and don't work besides.  The Chicco
agent for Norway claims that WHO recommends latex over silicone for feeding
devices for infants.  I think he is making this up.

Victoria notes that Ukrainian mothers place Avent shields so that the
'wings' are in front of baby's nose and chin, and I find this too.  However,
the reason Avent shields have this feature is, according to them, that the
baby will be in skin contact with the breast except for what is in its
mouth, and will smell mother's skin rather than silicone.  If they would
bother including instructions for use with their shields, perhaps more
mothers would use them in the intended way.  On the numerous occasions I
have discussed this with the national Avent rep in Norway I have never
managed to convince her or the company of the necessity of this.  Our
government, normally so eager to regulate many aspects of private life, is
also uninterested in the harm that such lack of information can do to
breastfeeding.

For the record, Avent is considered a 'non-WHO code-compliant company'
because of the way they market their feeding bottles and teats, and
pacifiers.  They are not permitted to advertise in JHL for that reason.
They push a bottle here that claims on the packaging to be 'clinically
proven to reduce colic' and the text is in English!  The clinical tests were
done by Avent themselves and their bottles compared favorably to some other
brand X bottles but unfavorably to the breast.  This of course is not
mentioned on the packaging.  The Avent rep has also failed to supply me with
the documentation for their bottles being 'just like the breast'.  After two
years I have given up waiting for it - the head office in the UK was
supposed to send it directly to me.

The shields are very much like Medela's, but Medela only has a cutout on one
half of the shield, for baby's nose.  Avent shields seem a little stiffer in
the teat part too.  When correctly applied they work fine, but this is the
exception rather than the rule, since it is up to the mother to figure out
how to use them.  In Norway they only market the larger size, but they do
fit on most of the breasts I see.

The biggest of my many beefs with Avent as a company is the lack of
instructions with many of their products for breastfeeding mothers.  Those
who buy an ISIS pump generally boil it between each use, even if they are
pumping exclusively.  The instructions simply say 'boil before use', with no
instructions about how long, or how often, this should be done.  The same
goes for the shields.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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