Hi Magda- I meant to answer this a long time ago, but sometimes, well,
life interferes.  :-)


---magda <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Kate, you wrote : I also got into an argument with the manager about
that,
> because she felt that the *spirit* of the Code is wrong, and that she
> has every intention of violating it, for that reason.
>
> I am curious what she disagreed with in the spirit of the WHO Code.
I know that
> many people are resistant to it when they think it is about
breastfeeding, and
> maybe a piece of legislation which wants to get women to breastfeed
by denying
> them some kind of freedom of information or choice -- and this is
how I have
> seen it presented by industry.

I think that was part of it, but it was also that she believed that
companies should be able to do what they want to promote their product.

 If we understand the Code to be about all
> babies, no matter how they are fed, breastfeeding, breastmilk,
commercial
> formula, or home-made formulations; and we understand it to say:  If
you give
> information about any method of feeding an infant, it must be
scientific and
> INDEPENDENT
> information concerned with making the best choice for this baby in
these
> circumstances, with these needs; then it is hard to see what
objections someone
> could have.

FOr some reason, people often believe that breastfeeding advocates
have an agenda that goes beyond ensuring good nutrition for babies.
There is the idea of "breastfeeding Nazi's".  I don't understand it
myself, but the idea that by advocating breastfeeding, we are somehow
denigrating women who "choose to formula feed".  It is often seen as
somehow forcing an onerous task (breastfeeding) onto women.

> I suppose a hard-line free trade market economy person (and there
are those
> around, of course) could say that infant health (with attendant
costs to the
> medical and social system of the country in which the child then
lives out his
> or her life) is not an issue, compared with keeping the market free
of any
> restricitions.
>
> When I talk about the WHO Code, I always mention at least three
times that it is
> about protecting all babies and mothers from commercial influences
over how the
> baby will be fed, NOT about promoting breastfeeding.

But isn't it also about promoting breastfeeding?

> Can we help it that the scientific evidence is pretty conclusive for
the
> benefits of breastfeeding?  Some people don't want to hear this.
Fine.  But
> that is not a problem in terms of warmly endorsing the WHO Code.
>
> Sadly, people who object, as this women did, are probably coping
with unresolved
> issues from their own lives.  I say sadly, because it is so hard to
address
> these issues and personal hurt when you are also standing up for the
> international regulation which needs to be in place (as a MINIMUM --
remember
> the Code was drafted as the minimum protection each member state of
the WHO was
> to put into place for its infants) to protect some of the most
vulnerable
> members of society in the matter of nutrition which will have
life-long
> implications for their health and quality of life.
>
> It can be hard to speak out on the Code, because people put all
kinds of
> personal issues into the equation, but I have evolved this way of
thinking and
> talking about the Code and find it helps take the heat out of the
discussions.
>
> In this country, when legislation was introduced to ensure that car
dirvers and
> front seat passengers wore seat belts, there was a huge fuss and
outcry.  It was
> felt to infringe individual choice.  Yeah, I guess it does.  But the
total costs
> of deaths and injuries to the un-restrained are picked up by society
at large
> and so I guess the polity has a say in issues like this.
>
> It all goes back to those civics lessons I remember sweating through
in eighth
> grade!
>
> Good luck to all who seek to gain wider understanding of, and
support for, the
> WHO Code.
>
> Magda Sachs
> Baby Milk Action (UK IBFAN) Area Contact
> Breastfeeding Supporter for BfN, The Breastfeeding Network
> UK
>
>

==

Kate Hallberg, mom to Ursula (wow! 4) and Sage (1.5)
http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~kolina
"It is the job of the physician to find health, anyone can find disease"
- A.T.Still, "Philosophy of Osteopathy",1886
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/8193/

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