Just a couple of comments on Jane's post. Jane is correct in that the Code does not prohibit Medela from making and selling feeding bottles and nipples. However, there is more to the Code than glamorizing or idealizing feeding bottles.
The Code states that there should be no marketing of products to the public that are within the scope of the Code. Placing coupons for feeding bottles in pump boxes is marketing to the public. Bottles given as prizes or ads for free bottles violates the Code. Free bottles samples provided through contests, as a bonus for buying other products, etc violates the Code. Pictures of feeding bottles on pump packages or bottles packages violates the Code. These are all behaviors that Medela is engaged in.
The Code is not about the quality of products that Medela makes, or the necessity of their use. Many people on Lactnet feel that the Code is useless, stupid, outdated, and that we are all wasting our time talking about it! The Code is about protecting breastfeeding and making sure that if infants need to use formula that the products are of high quality and parents know how to use them correctly and safely. The Code asks health care professionals to make sure they are not influenced by sponsorship from companies who do not meet their obligations under the Code. The Code is not difficult to understand nor is it punitive to a company to abide by its guidelines. Evenflo is currently meeting its obligations under the Code and has not suffered financial losses by doing so.
I lecture extensively around the country on clinical issues, advocacy issues, and ethical issues and the Code frequently comes up in our discussions about products, sponsorship, and even sore nipples! It is a part of the breastfeeding community.
Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:13:06 -0600
From: Kershaw Jane <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Medela and The Code
I'm sorry, this whole assumption bothers me intensely. Medela is a business,
not a person. Businesses are in the mode of survival. They don't have feelings
or ideas. The OWNERS of the business are the ones who decide. If a business
slows down, people are laid off. Those people may be looking at ways to
increase sales. If a business is a publicly traded company, a decrease in
profits means lower value and the stockholders will push for profits over morals
see: Nestle. When businesses see profits in obeying the code, THEN they will
obey the code. When they see losses, they will not obey the code. Medela wants
to see more people breastfeeding and using their products, definitely. It is to
their best interests to design the best products possible to keep mothers
breastfeeding and babies getting breast milk EVEN IF the mother has to be away.
That includes excellent efficient breast pumps AND (no tomatoes please) they
believe, bottles that don't stop a baby from going back to the breast. There
may be mothers that choose to deliberately work that hard to just pump and put
it in the bottle. But that's not the majority. The Code as far as I can see
does not stop Medela from making these products and selling them. What it
objects to is the glamorization of bottles as being equivalent to the breast.
And I don't see that as what Medela is doing in its marketing. Marketing is
about making a product visible to the public. I WISH they marketed the special
needs feeder and that it was a bit cheaper and more available. When products
are more available, they become cheaper, competition comes in and they either
get cheaper or disappear. Look at TV's computers cellphones for examples.
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