I appreciate this, Karleen. You're right. We've got the smokers, the obese,
the people who have had lifelong poor care.
Giving information about the dangers of formula has been done - and met with
tremendous resistance. We're the mean people who are suggesting that Momma J
isn't doing a very good job of being a mother, because she's formula
feeding. Or at least, that's how it is perceived. We give information, but
people hear what they want to hear.
The incidence of pump use is up, because it is advertised and became the
norm. The incidence of formula feeding increased with the direct
advertisement of formula to a target population and became the norm. What we
need to do is go after the marketing of formula (just as we've been talking
about the marketing of pumps and bottles) and cut this gigantic tree off at
the roots.
The parallel to tobacco? "The sharp increase in cigarette use during the
early to mid-1990s observed in this and other surveys might have resulted
from expanded tobacco company promotional efforts, including discounted
prices on cigarette brands most often smoked by adolescents, product
placement in movies, development of nontobacco product lines with company
symbols (e.g., hats and t-shirts), and sponsorship of music concerts and
other youth-focused events" (Nelson DE, Mowery P, Asman K, et al. Long-term
trends in adolescent and young adult smoking in the United States:
metapatterns and implications. Am J Public Health 2008;98:905--15.)
Great deals of money go into successful (and unsuccessful) advertisement
campaigns. The story I mentioned the other day about Fosamax is another
example, as are many other drug "successes." Many women now take Serafem for
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). Used to be called Premenstrual
Syndrome (PMS) but that was just a collection of symptoms. A disorder, well,
drugs can be created and marketed specifically for a disorder. In this case,
one of the drugs is Serafem. Serafem is actually Prozac, but marketed in a
"pretty" pink and purple scheme, unlike the less feminine green and yellow
Prozac.
I stand by my thoughts that substituting the normal (breastfeeding) for the
abnormal requires the follow-through with someone who is dedicated to this
branch. I don't want to be responsible for suggesting a mother use Formula
A, and next find out the baby has bloody diarrhea. I dislike the thought of
suggesting a medical treatment (which is what the use of formula is) to a
mother, not being an expert on the topic. And honestly, the thought of being
an expert on that topic sickens me.
Best wishes,
Sam Doak
<<
Cardiac nurses are dealing with the tail end of poor health behaviours not
the beginning. Anyone working with new mothers should be providing
anticipatory guidance on infant feeding issues. If we knew why and how
mothers used formula we could provide them with support and information that
would help them to avoid or minimise its use. At the very least you need to
know why formula is dangerous and how it harms the health of mothers and
babies so as to be able to allow women to make informed decisions about
infant feeding.
And pray tell who should be the expert on infant formula?? While those who
understand the importance of breastfeeding and the risks of artificial
feeding seek to keep themselves pure and untouched by the F word, industry
is only to happy to fill the gap. Here in Australia we no longer have the
Infant Formula Manufacturers of Australia but the Infant Nutrition Council-
to help support breastfeeding and formula feeding....
Karleen Gribble
Australia
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