I too was appalled after reading the WebRN commentary on breastfeeding. The
author dismisses breastfeeding with a flick of the hand. This should not be
surprising since Mead Johnson has the exclusive sponsorship of the infant
nutrition category on WebMD. WebMD will also be promoted on all Enfamil cans
to make sure that readers receive only the information from the commercial
interest, not a health care provider who is knowledgeable about
breastfeeding. I too intend to write a letter in the section provided but I
think we could do more.

Nothing is really regulated on the Internet. Letters to the Federal Trade
Commission in the US and the respective agencies in other countries would at
least make people take notice of the manipulation and conflict of interest
that these sites are engaged in. Perhaps this violates the anti-trust
regulations!!! Maybe we need a list of the web sites where false and
misleading breastfeeding articles and information appear as an alert to
consumers and health care providers to stay away. This list could identify
the sponsors of the sites to whom we could write letters suggesting that we
are recommending that people stay away from the site because of the poor and
potentially dangerous information.

Publishing the names and addresses of the web sites in question provides
negative PR which most of them hope to avoid. As editor of "Abreast of Our
Times," the newsletter from NABA (National Alliance for Breastfeeding
Advocacy), I would certainly consider publishing this in a future issue. Such
a document might be given to mothers in prenatal classes and through our
various contacts with new families to help counter some of the onslaught on
breastfeeding that is occurring.

What do you all think of this?

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

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