----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary Kay Smith" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:46 PM
Subject: [LACTNET] Lansinoh brouhaha
**Hello Mary Kay,
>I appreciate all the heartfelt comments and am trying hard not to take
> them personally. I, for one, do not hold one person responsible for the
> actions of a company. My comment re: gina was meant as a reminder that
> we are all in this together. This exchange and thread is one of the
> reasons I have not been on Lactnet for several years. If the holier than
> thou, up on the high horse fact-correcting comments were sent to me
> personally I might feel differently. I have been an LC for 20 years,
> LLLL Leader for 26 years and an RN for less than 10 years. I've been
> active in ILCA for almost 20 years holding board positions and fully
> support the Code. I have worked for Ameda and Whisper Wear, I did some
> consulting for Avent and trust me - I think I know plenty about the Code
> and the history of some of the companies we've been discussing.
**I do not know much about the intricate ways in which companies manage to
combine efforts in order to increase their turnover, leaving the general
public uninformed, because it is hard to keep track of all those changes.
Even though I've read the Code many times, there are still many issues that
I find hard to apply to daily practice or to judge when the question is
posed: "Is this a violation or not?"
Of course, I know: that is how the Code was drawn up... ABM industry was
part of the negociations! It often feels like labour lost, trying to raise a
voice against all the practices that intend to get moms in the ABM-camp.
That doesn't mean I think this is not a necessary thing to try and do. If
only there were more hours in the day to get all the important things
done... :-s
I found out that the Dutch lc-collegues as well, have different opinions on
how important it is to fight the 'criminal' marketing practices. Just this
afternoon, I got a mail from a collegue, telling me that Nestlé (yep, sorry,
once again...) approaches child bed nurses (who very much work individually
considering our home birth system), sends them ABM nr. 1 samples and asks
them to sign a form that says they comply with the Code and are aware that
samples should only be used when mom can't or doesn't want to
breastfeed...!! An action was started (Thumbs up, Gonneke) to report this to
the national authorities and I will look into it tomorrow and see what I can
do to contribute and increase awareness concerning these practices in the
provincial bf working committee that I'm a member of.
So, Mary Kay, the whole issue certainly is a difficult one. With all due
respect... imo, the duration of someones career is not something that in
itself guarantees that someone understands and applies things the right way.
Your opinion may be worth just as much if you had been a dedicated LLLL for
three or four years, or an LC for two. I mean, *everyones* opinion should be
dealt with respectfully.
Dealing with issues respectfully, however, is *not* the same things as
agreeing on everything or cutting of discussions as soon as they become
'sturdy' or avoiding issues because someone might take offense on your
comment, reagardless how hard to other one tried to write carefully.
Understanding one another is often a matter of talking long and 'hard' in
order to understand someones ideas and backgrounds and finding out how
standards of practice are realized and the Code of Ethics can be abided by.
I take it for granted that you agree with the Code, like you said. But just
to clear me up (I'm not even an IBCLC yet, will be end of this Summer,
hopefully, and have been a volunteer for 13 years): what is your opinion on
how to deal with Code-violators? Do you think it is worthwile to boycot
them? How to deal with violators that buy previously Code-compliant
companies? How to deal with all this? Trust me, I'm not trying to be
offensive; I'm just genuinely interested in how people among us deal with
all this, how to divide time between the one (boycot) and the other issue
(mother/child care), how to prevent ourselves from becoming acid, how to
remain fresh and positive and still effectively fight unethical marketing
practices?
Well, I hope you didn't unsubscribe yet and are able to read my post... ;o)
Marriages, jobs, associations, friendships... often running away from them
does not resolve the issues at all, just like giving formula does not
resolve breastfeeding problems. It is fighting symptoms, not solving
problems. I hope Lactnet is a place where we can work together to solve
problems, because a problem it is, the ABM-industry...
Kindly,
Marianne Vanderveen, Netherlands
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