>Dear all:
>
>I was deeply disappointed yesterday when I saw a mother who was EXCLUSIVELY
>breastfeeding from a hospital that is generally fairly decent on
>breastfeeding issues. She
>was given a breastfeeding bag with two packages of powdered formula.
>For the first time
>ever, I simply dumped the POWDERED formula that someone slipped into
>her breastfeeding
>bag into the trash compacter and told them they shouldn't even give
>it to friends who are
>formula feeding. Really, do hospitals not recognize (or the person
>to might have slipped
>the formual into the bag) that this might create a liability? And
>why is this happening in an
>almost breastfeeding friendly hospital?
>
Best, Susan
From our experience in the UK, things like this don't stop happening
until they are banned by law. Good practice, guidelines,
recommendations, strategies, policies, awards, extra
training.....yeah yeah yeah all worthwhile but the only thing that
stops free samples and unethical marketing is the law. I might have
mentioned this before on Lactnet as I have a bit of a bee in my
bonnet about it, sorry ;)
We have a zillion miles to go with regard to bf support and
prevention of unethical marketing here, but no one would *dream* of
giving a new mother a sample of formula unless it was a medical
necessity (ff mother discharged at night, no all-night supermarket
open, no formula at home, for instance), and no one has an opinion on
this any longer - it's just something that doesn't happen.
At least, that's what I thought.....locally, we had a situation in
the summer where a SureStart centre had some cans of formula near
their sell-by date. Now, clinics/centres are no longer allowed to
sell formula (by law) and this clinic for some reason did not simply
send the cans back to the makers. Someone decided to offer them as a
give-away to the breastfeeding mothers' group!!! (SureStart is a
govt programme directing extra health and social support to parents
of young children in poorer neighbourhoods).
Well......I am glad to say, a bit like Chicken Licken and his acorn,
the sky almost did fall in. Immediately the news went round and the
manager of the area SureStart was contacted by the lead Public Health
doctor, the law cited, and an immediate clarification of the legal
position was sent to the centre and the offer was withdrawn. It is
enormously helpful to be able to say 'you can't do this because it
is against the law' and you don't have to bother trying to nicely
persuade people that it's not such a good idea (though you can be
polite and explain the rationale).
We would *love* a law in England like the one in Scotland (and in
some USstates) that prevents harrassment of any breastfeeding mother
and baby and which makes it an offence to ask her to go somewhere
else.
Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK
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