I am No Mail but wanted to join in here to back up Magda's post: this is very, very important victory. I hope you will all follow the link to the full story in her post.

I have a personal feeling of victory as I was one of the prosecution witnesses, and gave evidence against Wyeth at the court. The action was brought by Birmingham Trading Standards - in the UK, local trading standards offices are charged with maintaining the law with regard to the retail sale of goods (they are the guys you would complain to if you felt Mr Greengrocer was selling short measures when you bought your fruit and veg, for instance).  One of my NCT colleagues, Liz Petley, brought the illegal advertisment to their attention. She and I were called by the prosecution to give evidence, and there was a further bf supporter, and a bf mother, who also showed for the prosecution.

One of the main defence witnesses, appearing for Wyeth, was Professor Alan Lucas, of the Dunn Nutrition Centre in Cambridge, and well-known researcher in the field of infant nutrition.

A lesson, by the way, from the court case, was that email is certainly not private (in the UK courts, at least). Email discussions about the ad which took place on a UK forum of breastfeeding supporters were read out in court and used by the defence in an attempt to throw doubt on the integrity of the prosecution. 

As we hear from time to time from our list mothers, it is not sensible to write anything to Lactnet that you would not feel happy to see on the front page of a national newspaper. Unless email forums are closely moderated and membership closely moderated, it is wisest to assume that many people are 'listening' to our conversations who might not have the interests of breastfeeding support at the forefront of their agendas.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT brastfeeding counsellor, Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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