Jacqui asks for input to help her decide whether to edit text for a pump
company so their catalogue doesn't violate the WHO Code of Marketing of
Breast Milk Substitutes.
Since you ask, I will say 'Don't fall for it.'  You are right to be
hesitant.  If they were serious about the Code they would have complied with
it on their own.  It is their responsibility to be familiar with it, and to
write text that is code-compliant (and have ditto illustrations) if they
want to be taken seriously by those who support breastfeeding.  Indeed, it
is their responsibility to do business in a code-compliant way, and if the
text in the catalogue is in violation, it is a reflection of company policy
that at best is ignorant of the Code (quite a transgression in itself, IMO)
and at worst is willfully in violation of it.

The only party to such an agreement that stands to benefit is the company,
because other professionals and possibly consumers will regard them more
positively if they are associated with you, an IBCLC.  You as an IBCLC run
the risk of damaging your own reputation among colleagues, and even of
disqualifying yourself from participation in groups working to promote
breastfeeding because you could be seen as tainted by association with a
company with a questionable background.  In my opinion it isn't worth the
risk.  Ros Escott from IBCLE gave a talk on this very subject at the
congress in Berlin in April, and said that one way to deal with this is to
agree to edit the text on the condition that they not use your name or your
credential in the final materials.  Usually this leads to a withdrawal of
the offer.  They are after your name and your qualifications to raise the
perception of their product - which probably doesn't deserve it.

I have had a similar request from a distributor of nipple shields here.  I
have complained to them repeatedly because they sell imported shields
without any text or diagrams advising when or how to use them, how to clean
them, and when NOT to use them.  The only thing you can tell from the
package is that they are for nipples - not even that they are for
breastfeeding with!  They have countered by asking me to write 'something'
they could use.  I maintain that it is their responsibility.  Their slogan
is that they help mothers breastfeed 'longer'.  (Longer than what?  I've
never found out.)  If they are so good at helping mothers breastfeed, surely
they must have the necessary knowledge to write an appropriate instruction
sheet for their products.  We aren't in a guild with closely guarded
mystical secrets, for crying out loud.  If they are so bold as to market
products without instructions and then admit outright that they don't have
in-house expertise to provide same, it tells me something very damaging
about the company's ethics - I see it as a declaration of moral bankruptcy,
and I am aware that this is a damning judgment.

This company sells pumps without cleansing instructions as well, and they
sell bottles with misleading text on the packaging.  They do put money into
a full time 'opinion employee' whose job it is to see that 'opinion' of the
company is positive, especially among maternity care health workers.  She
works very much like a drug company rep, visiting wards and dropping off
samples of pumps and shields and lots and lots of consumer leaflets, and
acting very interested in what we think about her products.  They put
**nothing** into making sure that the people at the coalface (the ones
actually selling the products to mothers) have any knowledge of how the
products should be used, cared for, or complained about when they lead to
injury.

If you can find a way to insure yourself against future harm from this
fleeting association, you could consider doing it as a business agreement.
If not, then take a hard look at how badly you need the income it would give
you before deciding whether it is worth the inherent and very real risk it
carries.

Rachel Myr
writing on a subject that really gets me steamed up, in
Kristiansand, Norway

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