Am I missing something?  Seems like Ms Gandy has her finger well and truly
on the issue ... Let's congratulate her for recognising breastfeeding is a
women's issue.  The HHS has decided that women fail to breastfeed because
they are ignorant (a hundred years ago it was because they were immoral -
another story).  "If we just educate the poor ignorant women, they'll do the
right thing." What this attitude fails to see is the discrimination against
women that makes it impossible for them to breastfeed - even when they know
that it is important; even when they know that failing to do so puts their
children at risk.  Mothers know that their babies are at much greater risk
of adverse outcomes if its parents are without income, or are isolated from
family and friends because their feeding practice is considered immoral. (Or
if their medical adviser tells them not to breastfeed - will he issue an
amber alert?)
Significant social change (alongside education) is required to improve
breastfeeding rates in the developed world. 
Nina Berry BA/Bed(Hons) Dip Arts(Phil)
Breastfeeding Counsellor
PhD Candidate - "Ethical Issues in the marketing of 'Toddler Milks'"
-----------------
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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