Copyright 1995 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. The Toronto Star

August 1, 1995, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: LIFE; Pg. C1

LENGTH: 638 words

HEADLINE:  Breast-feeding  advocates protest seminars

BYLINE: EDMONTON JOURNAL, WITH FILES BY STAFF

BODY: The infant cozies up against his mother's breast and drifts off to
sleep, home after just 24 hours in this world.

His mom, new to the challenge of motherhood, is naturally worried about her
baby. "Is he happy? Is he getting enough to eat?"

Now that new mothers are spending less time in the hospital than in
previous years, they have less time to ask some of these questions. Once
home, they can call on a public health nurse, but where else can they go?

To the alarm of  breast-feeding  advocates, who this week are promoting
World Breast Feeding  Week, they can also get information on infant feeding
from Mead-Johnson Canada, a producer of infant formula.

The company is holding a series of infant nutrition seminars in Canadian
cities. Breast-feeding  advocates are afraid the seminars may convince
mothers to use infant formula, regarded by most health professionals to be
inferior to breast milk. They also question the motives of an infant
formula company in providing information on  breast-feeding.

Mother's milk contains antibodies that boost a baby's immune system and is
also considered to be better nutritionally balanced than formula.

"The infant-formula makers are trying to get everybody everywhere they
can," says Cathy Mallon of La Leche League, which gives mothers support in
breast-feeding. "With the seminars, they are making themselves look like
experts in infant health."

The seminars, which started about 18 months ago, discuss how to breast-feed
and look at possible problems. They also provide information on different
types of Mead-Johnson formulas and their preparations.

Gary Allen of Mead-Johnson says the objective is to give mothers
information on  breast-feeding  and answer questions about formula.

"We endorse  breast-feeding  as the preferred form of nutrition. We go to
great pains . . . not to suggest that formula is superior, easier, less
costly or more socially acceptable than  breast-feeding, " Allen says.

Breast-feeding  advocates have long been concerned about the methods
infant-formula makers use to promote their products. Elizabeth Sterkin of
the Infant Feeding Action Coalition says these include giving new moms free
samples on discharge from the hospital and inundating them with information
on the benefits of formula.

World leaders attending the United Nations' 1990 World Summit for Children
agreed that distribution of free or subsidized infant formulas in maternity
wards should be ended worldwide by 1995. Hospitals should also encourage
and support  breast-feeding,  they agreed.

While thousands of hospitals around the world have taken action, Canada
still lags behind in promoting this initiative in its hospitals, according
to a report by UNICEF.

Many  breast-feeding  advocates view the Mead-Johnson seminars as just
another marketing ploy.

"The problem is that the nurses, by being paid by a formula company, might
have their objectivity compromised," says Dr. Shirley Gross of the Edmonton
Breast-feeding  Clinic.

Cathy Becker, a former public health nurse, conducts some of the company's
seminars as an independent contractor.

"If I believed the formula company's motivation was to jam formula down
their throats, I would have a huge problem with it because I'm a very
strong advocate of  breast- feeding, " she says.

In the classes, Becker discusses the benefits of  breast-feeding. She is
breast-feeding  her own baby.

But  breast-feeding  isn't for everyone, she says. "There are some moms who
just say, 'Forget it.' And a lot of moms go back to work after six months
and are wondering, 'What can I give my baby?' "

UNICEF and the World Health Organization estimate that if all babies were
breast-fed for the first six months of life, 1 million infant deaths a year
would be prevented.

[log in to unmask] (Arly Helm, LC)