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Subject:
From:
"Regina M. Roig-Romero, Bs Ibclc" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 6 Mar 2009 17:23:17 -0500
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Andrea copied me/said in reply, 



<<<<"Wanting more babies to get more breastmilk is not the issue. Code compliance is the issue."



Maybe this is why I feel the way I do about this whole "issue". For me, it IS about getting more babies more breastmilk. If we are willing to sacrifice that in order to comply with the Code we may have preserved some idealized vision of how "we" think breastfeeding SHOULD be, but have we best served the babies and their mothers? For me the answer is a resounding no. >>>>



As Heather pointed out in another post (thank you, Heather), that is neither what I said nor what I meant. Heather described my point perfectly.





Secondly: that it is even possible to have a conversation in which it is proposed that complying with the WHO Code could by any stretch of the imagination constitute *sacrificing* getting more breastmilk into more babies only deepens my concern. Have we truly gotten to that point? This is a repeat of what many of us bemoan in the pediatric profession. In fact it is one of my little professional nightmares, that LCs + Breast Pump Manufacturers = Pediatricians + Formula Manufacturers.  Mind you, this is not to impugn anyone's character; it's not that simple.  Do you think that doctors such as my father sat around at night plotting ways to sabotage breastfeeding? That they DIDN'T want their patients to be healthy and receive the best?  



Their *intentions* were not the problem. They ended up getting their heads turned around by the formula companies anyway.  Is the same thing going to happen to us (or, more likely, our future LCs) with respect to breast pump manufacturers?  Because if we think that we are somehow exempt from being similarly compromised we are sadly mistaken IMO.





Andrea also said, <<I am sad that a mother doesn't want to breastfeed her baby, but it is not the worst that could happen and if she wants to go to all the work of pumping and bottlefeeding, I surely am going to do all I can to support that. >>



NO ONE is saying otherwise.  



Medela could easily market their products ethically, as indeed they did for years. They choose not to, and seem to be quite at peace about that decision.  WE are the ones with a problem.  



Once upon a time, we had the luxury of our ethics AND our favorite breast pump company.



Those days are gone.  Time to choose between them, folks, because our only alternative is to renounce our *own* support of the WHO Code, in which case guess what? We are no better than they are, and my nightmare has come true....



(melodramatic, maybe, but that's how I feel at the moment.)



Regina Maria Roig-Romero, BS, IBCLC, RLC

Sr. Lactation Consultant

Miami-Dade County Health Dept WIC/Nutrition

Breastfeeding Program



● 7785 NW 48 Street Suite 300 ● Miami, Florida  33166 ● Phone:  (786) 336-1333 x16219 ● Breastfeeding Helpline: (786) 336-1336 ●  Fax (786) 336-1302

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