I am floored. Absolutely floored. By now I should be too cynical to be blown away by this, but I suppose this move by IBLCE shall finish stripping me of any remaining naïveté.



I feel like reacting and yet at the moment my only reaction is that of speechlessness.  Marsha said:



<<Essentially IBLCE has exempted Medela from its list of Code-violating 

companies and is allowing sponsorship of programs by Medela. This violates IBLCE's own policy regarding sponsorship of educational offerings and conflicts with IBLCE's Code of Ethics and ILCA's Standards of Practice. IBLCE cannot pick and choose which Code violators they will allow to fund programs. The Code applies to all companies manufacturing or distributing products within the scope of the Code.>>



SURELY THEY KNOW THIS. Marsha also said:



<<It is an inherent conflict-of-interest for IBLCE (which requires payment for approving CERPs) to allow CERPS for programs funded by this company. IBLCE must be consistent and uphold the Code, not massage the Code to suit itself. It does not matter what a company's stated intention is. What matters is how the products under the scope of the Code are marketed. There is no doubt about a Code violation when a feeding bottle and artificial nipple are shown in an ad in American Baby magazine.>>



IBLCE also knows that. They are not unintelligent. They're just unethical. Therefore to point out the facts to IBLCE won't make a difference since they already know the facts, and have decided (just like Medela) to violate the most basic standard of our profession anyway.



And before anyone's dander gets up about my calling the IBLCE Board unethical, let's review the definition of that word, which is:



<<not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior; "unethical business practices">> I found that definition at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unethical.



As Marsha pointed out there is NO DOUBT about a Code violation when a feeding bottle and artificial nipple are shown in an ad in American Baby magazine. That is not open to interpretation, that is not a matter of opinion, that is A VIOLATION OF THE WHO CODE.



We can all love Medela's pumps. We can all love the research that they fund (while remembering that the only research questions they are interested in answering are the ones that serve the building of ever-better breastpumps. Our own research needs are broader than that.) We can even decide that the WHO Code is unnecessarily tough and needs changing (don't ask me to help you, because I don't believe that it is). But what we cannot logically do is pretend that Medela is not willfully in violation of the WHO Code.



And if anyone still doubts the effectiveness of advertising in changing behavior, let what IBLCE has done serve as an object lesson. This is the price a profession pays for letting itself get too cozy with companies and industries closely related to it.



Friends, when we are too cozy with an industry or company that upholds the Code, it becomes that much easier to be too cozy with them when they then decide to violate that Code. We have sold ourselves out to Medela. Medela is our Enfamil....





Regina Maria Roig-Romero, BS, IBCLC, RLC

Sr. Lactation Consultant

Miami-Dade County Health Dept WIC/Nutrition

Breastfeeding Program



● 7785 NW 48 Street Suite 300 ● Miami, Florida  33166 ● Phone:  (786) 336-1333 x16219 ● Breastfeeding Helpline: (786) 336-1336 ●  Fax (786) 336-1302



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