Rachel, The phrase in "Clay's" letter to "Tommy" that hit me was this one: "The IFC is grateful for what Assistant Secretary Keane has done, but the industry simply feels that more must be done if this campaign is to be at all balanced." I question why anyone would expect "balance" in a campaign to promote breastfeeding over formula feeding. "Balance" implies two equal options. Clay, it's a campaign! Doesn't this imply that one option is being promoted over the other? I suppose the infant formula industry believes that *they* are giving "balanced" information when they tip their hats to breastfeeding before promoting their product "if a mother cannot or chooses not to breastfeed, or discontinues breastfeeding prior to 1 year or chooses to supplement." But imagine for a moment that we did want to design a "balanced" statement that acknowledged the place of infant formula in the world of infant feeding, what would it say? Using the model the companies have developed for formula promotion, I guess we would start with a statement about our competition, then make some statements about breastfeeding. For us, integrity demands that we stick to the scientific and factual--unlike the hogwash about 'comfort proteins' and such-like inventions that the companies claim for their products. Here's my attempt at such a statement. If you recognize some words and phrases, it's because I borrowed them from the IFC letter and from their website; some come originally from the AAP Statement. I have starred all of my borrowings. *** A *Balanced* Statement about Infant Feeding Paragraph 1 *During the initial and most crucial months of growth and development in a child's life, nutrition and diet should be a major concern to parents.* During the process of *making a decision* whether or *not to breastfeed,* *to supplement breastfeeding,* or *to stop breastfeeding before her baby is one year of age,* every woman has the right to full information about the risks, costs, and benefits of all infant feeding methods. She also has the right to a social environment that supports and protects breastfeeding within the family, the health care system, the workplace, and the community. 'Support' means care that helps her to establish breastfeeding and solve any problems with breastfeeding. 'Protection' means eliminating barriers to breastfeeding in any place where she and her child will spend their time. Paragraph 2 Infant formula is not the *preferred and recommended method* of infant feeding, but for the few *women who cannot breastfeed* (a very small percentage of mothers), it does supply adequate *nutrients* for *infant growth*. The great majority of mothers can breastfeed. Breastfeeding is *safe and nutritious,* protects mother's and baby's health, *supports optimal growth and development,* provides *psychological benefits* to mother and child, is *convenient,* and can be done with *utmost confidence.* *** For the sake of completeness, I have written another paragraph. This one slips into ethical territory that we have discussed on Lactnet, and I am not so sure that there is an evidence base for everything, but I'd like to put it on the table for people to think about. *** Paragraph 3 For the small minority of women who cannot breastfeed directly, the best alternative is for the mother to provide her own milk for her baby. For the small minority of *women who cannot breastfeed* or who cannot produce all the milk their babies need, the best alternative is to provide human milk from other women through milk banking (similar to, but far safer than, blood banking). Because human milk fortification may be necessary for some premature or sick babies, milk fortifiers should be prepared from human milk. It may be appropriate to recompense the women who provide milk for milk banks or for making fortifiers. However, it is inappropriate for a company to profit from providing human milk to people who need it. *** I know I'm describing Utopia, but ya gotta have a dream! I am forced to admit that formula has a place in today's world because not all babies have access to human milk, but surely the answer to this problem is to fix the access. We must not allow commercial interests and policy-makers to throw up more and more barriers that keep babies from obtaining the milk that is *preferred and recommended,* barriers that keep mothers and babies from teaming up to make milk happen and keep it happening in their lives as long as the babies need it...with a little extra to bank for those rare babies whose moms truly can't provide it. Chris Mulford, RN, IBCLC LLL Leader Reserve working for WIC in South Jersey (Eastern USA) Co-coordinator, Women & Work Task Force, WABA *********************************************** 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