As we endeavor to understand why Medela violates the Code we must 
remember that the company at this point is engaging in damage control. 
The conversation Ilene had with her Medela rep is a beautiful example 
of how a company that has done something bad works to repair its image. 
One of the first rules of damage control is to deflect attention away 
 from the company and its transgressions onto other people, like myself, 
and to change the subject by listing things extraneous to the topic at 
hand (research that Medela does, support for breastfeeding, sponsorship 
of education, etc.). Don't be led astray of the real issue by a 
smokescreen designed to change the subject. Medela asked Ilene to do 
research on me and how I could as one person declare them in violation 
of the Code. This deflects questions about the company onto a person 
whose job it is to monitor the Code in the US. I have explained how 
Code violation decisions are made in a collaborative manner and that it 
is the company itself who has declared that they violate the Code. I 
have listed the violations in Lactnet posts. These violations are the 
issue, not how nice the rep is, not that many mothers need to use 
pumps. It is not about me, it is not about the amount of research the 
company does, it is not about how nice the reps are, it is about 
marketing bottles and nipples in a manner that violates the Code.

It can take quite a bit of time to realize what the true issue is here. 
It is how products under the scope of the Code are marketed. Keep that 
in mind when you are approached by Medela. All of the reps have 
certainly be briefed on what to say and how to change the subject, 
deflect suspicion, and blame anyone and anything except Medela itself. 
Rather than take responsibility themselves as a company, they project 
blame on to others. No one said you have to quit your job, go bankrupt, 
or offer less than optimal support for breastfeeding women. One of the 
remarkable things about Lactnetters is the passion all of you have for 
breastfeeding and the breastfeeding dyad. Where would we be without all 
of you working so hard on this?

The second rule of damage control is divide and conquer. By sowing the 
seeds of suspicion, changing the topic, and whitewashing themselves, 
Medela is looking to garner support in the lactation community such 
that some of us are enticed to overlook their Code violations and 
present less than a united front. The violations are what they are. The 
Code is revisited every 2 years by the World Health Assembly. Liz 
Brooks and I will be presenting a session at the ILCA conference in 
July on the Code. There are many of us working to help protect 
breastfeeding. The Code does it by curbing commercial pressures on 
mothers that would lead them to think that bottle-feeding and the use 
of formula is equivalent to breastfeeding. Let's see if we can unite in 
our thoughts on the Code and understand that it is how products within 
the scope of the Code are marketed and nothing else. All of you are too 
wonderful to allow anything to come between our unique community and 
our dedication to breastfeeding.

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

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