FROM: Sturgess, Frances Coulter
TO:[log in to unmask]
   [log in to unmask]
SUBJECT: Re: Lactivist: Consumer Reports
DATE: 03-24-97   05:04 EST
PRIORITY:


OK, my ignorance has been exposed--others wrote in as follows, making my
sample letter to Consumr Rep. sort of redundant...Given the following, is
there any point to writing a letter at all?  So glad to have the Network to
fill me in...Thanks :>


-C.R. has a book on baby products.  IF and when you
> write you may want to say that a report on breast pumps would be a very
> important part of the next edition of their Baby Products book.
>
> > I have a copy of the Consumer Reports book GUIDE TO BABY PRODUCTS and it
DOES have a section about breast pumps. In fact, it has a whole chapter
titled "Breast-feeding and Bottle-feeding Equipment and Pacifiers." I
think you would be VERY pleased with the information presented. Not only
do they describe several pump brands, plus other breastfeeding
accessories, they cover the benefits of brstfdg. in detail, resources
for help, and even address the POLITICS of formula marketing. Sample:

"The AAP, a professional organization of the nation's pediatricians,
accepts about $1 million a year in contributions from formula
manufacturers. Hospitals nationwide have been given sizable research
grants in exchange for exclusive distribution of formula samples and
literature. Formula representatives often court hospital
personnel,taking pediatric residents for ski weekends and giving them
other 'perks.' Nurses and childbirth educators are also deluged with
sales calls, materials, and freebies in exchange for promoting formula
brands in hospitals and childbirth preparation classes."

Suffice it to say that they are PRO-breastfeeding and would provide a
credible (non-fanatic) source of information for folks who still need to
be convinced that breastfeeding is best.