Libby has asked where to send samples of Code violations. All Code
violations should be sent to me at NABA REAL, 254 Conant Rd, Weston, MA 02493. This is
very important as NABA REAL is conducting a Code Monitoring workshop this
July for updating the status of the Code in the US.
I also thought many of you would be interested in the letter below that
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney is sending to all members of the US House of
Representatives regarding the study done by the Independent Women's Forum and the
IWF's push to defeat the WHA resolution on breastfeeding and formula safety. I
had the privilege of collaborating with Rep Maloney's staff in providing
accurate information and language to counter some of the egregious statements
made in the IWFs document. I hope the letter comes through OK. If it does not,
e-mail me and I will re-send a clean copy. You can also distribute this
letter to whomever you wish and ask your own Member of the House of
Representatives to sign on to this important letter. I am hoping this helps the WHA
resolution which if accepted becomes part of the Code.
Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA
May 25, 2005
Support Breastfeeding World-Wide
Sign Letter to HHS Secretary in Support of WHO Resolution
Dear Colleague,
Recently many of us received a letter from the Independent Women's Forum in
opposition to a resolution addressing infant and young nutrition being
discussed by the World Health Assembly - the governing body of the World Health
Organization.
While this resolution seeks to promote and support breastfeeding throughout
the world, the Independent Women's Forum has decided to characterize it as
"anti-women, anti-mother and anti-development" and they claim these actions
are "setting women back decades in the workplace." They ask Members of
Congress to urge our government to lead the opposition to this resolution.
To bolster these claims, they point to a study authored by Dr. Scott
Gottlieb. I have shared this study with a number of experts within the
breastfeeding community and they have raised concerns about the study.
I invite you to join me in sending the attached letter to Health and Human
Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. This letter is in support of the resolution
and raises several issues with Dr. Gottlieb's study.
If you would like to co-sign the letter or if you have any questions, please
do not hesitate to contact Edward Mills of my staff at 5-7944 or
[log in to unmask] <_mailto:[log in to unmask]
(mailto:[log in to unmask]) >.
Sincerely,
CAROLYN B. MALONEY
Member of Congress
The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt
Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave. S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Dear Secretary Leavitt:
We are writing to express our support for a resolution addressing infant and
young child nutrition being discussed in Geneva, Switzerland by the World
Health Assembly - the governing body of the World Health Organization (WHO).
This resolution, EB115.R12, is designed to continue protecting, promoting
and supporting breastfeeding. As I am sure you are aware, breastfeeding has
been proven to have numerous health benefits for both the mother and the child.
Specifically:
* Studies have shown that exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6
months of life decreases rates of type I and type II diabetes in children and
adults, just as it reduces the incidence of childhood obesity - conditions that
have reached epidemic proportions in the US
* The US health care system spends between $4-7 billion on diseases
and conditions that are preventable by breastfeeding and the use of human milk.
NIH data shows that postneonatal death rates are increased for infants not
breastfed
* Employers enjoy lower absenteeism, better production, improved
employee retention, and reduced health claims when their breastfeeding mothers are
provided with time and space to pump their milk; the return on investment
can be more than $3 to $1
Additionally, it is our understanding that you have been made aware of a
study that was commissioned by the Independent Women's Forum (IWF). The author
of this study is Dr. Scott Gottlieb. While we are pleased that the study
repeatedly states that "scientific evidence continues to support breastfeeding
as the primary source of newborn nutrition, " we wanted to express our
concerns about other parts of this study that appear to portray a much bleaker
reality of breastfeeding than is the norm. We are concerned about a number of
claims made by the study. Specifically it:
* Misinterprets the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk
Substitutes by falsely claiming it seeks to ban access to formula. This code in
no way seeks to ban formula, it only pertains to the marketing of formula.
* Assumes that the use of infant formula is completely safe. In
actuality, powdered infant formula is not a sterile product and has been
associated with outbreaks of sepsis, meningitis, and necrotizing enterocolitis in both
premature and full term infants in developing and developed countries
worldwide. Recognizing this, the Food and Drug Administration issued a letter to
health professionals in 2002, recommending that powdered infant formulas not be
used in neonatal intensive care units
* Appears to overstate the occurrence of certain medical conditions
and their effect on preventing breastfeeding. It is our understanding that
conditions such as nipple bleb are far less common and far less of a barrier to
breastfeeding than the study would suggest.
* Fails to address recent studies regarding the benefit of
breastfeeding even if the mother is HIV positive. The study is quick to list the risks
associated with a mother with HIV/AIDS breastfeeding her child, but it fails
to mention any of the recent studies that have shown that HIV positive
mothers are actually at less risk for mother-to-child transmission when the infant
is breastfed exclusively for 3 months.
Finally, it appears that one of the Independent Women's Forum's concerns
regards employed mothers. With more than 50% of mothers with children under the
age of one in the U.S. workforce, we recognize this as a real concern. That
is why we support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, HR 2122, introduced by
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney. The aim of this legislation is to remove the
barriers women face when they choose to continue to breastfeed and return to
work. We should be doing everything to support the right of women to
breastfeed when they choose to do so, rather than focus our energies on defeating
the WHO proposal that promotes breastfeeding.
Sincerely,
CAROLYN B. MALONEY XXXXXXXXXXX
Member of Congress Member of Congress
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