Hi Lactnetters,

 

Has anyone seen this letter on the NOW website? I was pretty upset by it and
responded by calling Kim Gandy, the president of NOW and leaving a message
on her voicemail:

 

Open Letter to the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike
Leavitt
http://www.now. <http://www.now.org/issues/mothers/060718breastfeeding.html>
org/issues/mothers/060718breastfeeding.html

To Secretary Leavitt:

Recent commercials produced by the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) accuse
women who don't breastfeed their newborns exclusively for six months of
irresponsible
parenting.

The harsh commercials ignore the real barriers for women who want to
breastfeed.

Equating a woman's decision not to breastfeed with log-rolling or mechanical
bull riding
while pregnant insults the millions of women who are physically unable to
breastfeed, are
advised not to breastfeed due to illness medical treatment, or are unable to
breastfeed
for six months because of inadequate workplace accommodations.

The National Organization for Women wants all women to have the opportunity
to breastfeed
their babies. According to medical experts and public health officials, the
nutrients in
breastmilk provide infants with antibodies that help protect them against
infection and
potentially against chronic diseases. Yet, according to a 2003 Center for
Disease Control
study, 86 percent of mothers do not breastfeed exclusively for six months,
and these
barriers are part of the reason.

The HHS advertisements ought to address some of the real barriers created by
employers
and institutions that contribute to the low breast-feeding rates. According
to the
Families and Work Institute, more than 60 percent of mothers of very young
children are
employed, yet only one-third of mega-corporations provide a safe and private
location for
women to pump breastmilk for their babies. In the United States, only half
of employers
are obligated to give 12 weeks of family leave -- and that's without any
pay.

Women need support so that they can incorporate breastfeeding into their
lives as workers
and mothers, not commercials painting them as irresponsible.

To increase the number of women breastfeeding, and the length of time they
breastfeed,
HHS should take or advocate for the following policies:

* Extend to one year from the present six months after childbirth the period
that
women can receive nutritional supplements under the Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC)
program. Breastfeeding women require an additional 1,000 calories per day
and the cut-off
of supplement assistance at six months for eligible low-income women makes
no sense.

* Issue federal guidelines to employers outlining best practices to
accommodate
breastfeeding mothers, including sufficient time off work each day without
penalty. This
action would have very little cost to government and a low-cost to
employers; it would be
instructive to owners, managers and supervisors who may have little
experience or
knowledge of what proper policies might include.

* Advocate for federal pregnancy accommodation law to include breastfeeding.
States
may also want to emulate any changes in the federal law and regulations
pertaining to
accommodating pregnant women.

* Recommend that employers establish a suitable area for mothers to
breastfeed
infants comfortably. Following an unfortunate incident in California where a
woman using
a breast pump was "apprehended" by police in a restroom, the California
Assembly
established a small room for this activity. The federal government could
serve as a model
for other employers to set up similar facilities.

* Advocate that Congress clarify in law that anyone in the act of
breastfeeding or
using a breast pump should not be subject to any indecent exposure laws.
Breastfeeding
mothers have been forced to leave shopping malls or other locations under
such statutes
or ordinances. A statement in federal law would prevent the misapplication
of those laws
to lactating mothers.

* Encourage the inclusion of professional lactation specialists' services in
health
care plans. Some plans currently use these professionals.

* Provide funding and programs so that low-income mothers or mothers
receiving public
assistance can have access to breast pumps. Infants can expect to be fed
every two hours,
so mothers seeking employment often need breast pumps just to attend job
interviews. This
could be managed like the infant seat loan programs that are offered in many
communities.

* Amend welfare-to-work requirements to allow poor mothers to delay seeking
employment until they have stopped breastfeeding. The benefits are obvious.

* Increase funding for federally-assisted child care centers and provide
assistance
to other workplace-based child care centers. Parents who use child care
centers at their
place of employment can more easily visit their infants throughout the day
to breastfeed.

Thank you for considering these recommendations. I hope you will endeavor to
increase the
number of women who are able to breastfeed by making it more possible for
them to do so,
rather than guilt-tripping women who are doing their best.

Sincerely,

Kim Gandy
President
National Organization for Women

 

Here's basically what I left on her voicemail:

 

While it is true
that women may be insulted by the ad council ads that show pregnant women
riding mechanical bulls and log rolling the truth is those ads were created
in order to discontinue the practice of presenting breastfeeding as only a
slightly superior choice over formula feeding. Studies consistently confirm
that it is a VASTLY superior choice. This is information that for decades
has been routinely underestimated or withheld from women to protect them
from feeling guilty for not breastfeeding. As a result women have not really
understood the significance of the choice.

 

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have seen infants under who were
rushed to the emergency room due to severe vomiting and diarrhea from
formula intolerance. Data for 2005
in the NICU at Bellevue revealed that if a baby received infant formula s/he
remained hospitalized for an average of 9 days longer than a baby that
didn't.

 

This part of the open letter is incorrect!

Extend to one year from the present six months after childbirth the period
that
Women can receive nutritional supplements under the Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC)
Program. Breastfeeding women require an additional 1,000 calories per day
and the cut-off
of supplement assistance at six months for eligible low-income women makes
no sense.

Women that are not breastfeeding cannot receive WIC benefits after 6 months.
Women that are breastfeeding whether exclusively breastfeeding or
supplementing with formula can and DO receive WIC benefits up to one year.
This does serve as a slight incentive to continue to breastfeed although it
is not compelling enough in most cases to keep them from supplementing. WIC
continues to give formula to women that are breastfeeding who request it and
they can get as much formula as those that don't breastfeed if they want it.
Exclusive breastfeeders are also offered an expanded package including extra
supplemental foods such as tuna and carrots which no other WIC clients are
given but again this is usually not compelling enough to keep women from
supplementing. This serves as extra calories for exclusive breastfeeders who
are the ones who need it most, the more supplementing you do, the less
calories you burn.

 

I'm requesting that other LCs and others working in the field of lactation
respond to this letter.

 

Barbara Holmes RD, IBCLC

Brooklyn, NY

 

 

 


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