>OK, here goes, the cynic in me is coming out. How was this new strategy >decided? >Marsha, do you know whether focus groups have been used to explore the >effect of emphasizing exclusive BF for 6 months in a society without >universal maternity leave? This sounds like it could backfire, and turn >into another stick to beat women with, in the words of Maureen Minchin. In the UK, our government advice was changed last May to recommend routinely exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months. This has not been in conjunction with an ad programme, and it hasn't had much publicity. Yes, some of the little publicity there was has been negative, for exactly the reasons Rachel gives - and our maternity leave provision is much more liberal than in the US. Most mothers do not return to work until their babies are four or more months old, and there is provision for partial pay and non-paid leave for longer than this. It's been used as a stick to beat breastfeeding with....and breastfeeding supporters....mainly by women journalists :(((( However, maternity (and paternity) leave provision is a live issue in the UK, and universally thought of as a good thing. Government has itself admitted to the contradictions in recommending one thing (excl bf to 6 mths) when for some (not all) women, a return to work is inevitable....good maternity leave is a vote winner and in our case (the UK) there are other strands of opinion which express the fact that if bf recommendations clash with maternity rights, well then.... maternity rights have gotta give. So, in a society where there is scope for change, and where it is likely that maternity leave will continue to extend, I think our new bf rec's are helpful. We also have no direct-to-consumer advertising of non-follow-on formula for mothers (though the makers find plenty of ways to try to dodge that) and so no way of any large-scale marketing of formula emphasising the freedom etc. I think where there is hardly any maternity provision at all, and widespread advertising of formula, there might be different results of an awareness campaign. Heather Welford Neil NCT bfc, UK *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html