The Code was always intended to be the MINIMUM standard, not the "Best
available."
As a MINIMUM, I agree it needs updating - which is why new resolutions are
proposed and added every year at the World Health Assembly.
It's up to each nation to make the Code - or even a stronger, more updated
version that includes the original provisions and subsequent WHA resolutions
- into the "Law of the land" by passing appropriate legislation.
Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre, Ltd.
6540 Cedarview Ct, Dayton OH 45459
ph 937-438-9458 / fax 937-438-3228
www.BFLRC.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Renee Palting [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 12:11 AM
Subject: re "updated" versions of the code
As an FYI- there is a booklet available for minimal charge, 5.00 available
called "Code
Essentials." It is available via IBFAN. It places the code and relevant
resolutions into one
document. If you are having difficult flipping thru multiple documents with
each Code
Article, you will find it helpful as it placed it all together.
I have spent the last 7 months reviewing the "Code." I know I will be
lynched for saying
this, But "the Emperor is not wearing any clothes, and he wears a mullet
too"; it is an
outdated document that does not reflect the current culture.
Let me say this again... The Code needs to be revised. It is outdated and
does not reflect
cultural changes women have undergone. The mind set needs to reflect
reality.
Women are not going to change their mind in their use of a bottle because of
the
packaging. Pah- lease. A bottle is a bottle is a bottle no matter what the
packaging is.
Are we to hand out bottles and teats in brown bags in dark alleys? Are we
to only allow
bottle and teats to be sold with prescription? Would that make it any
better? This does
not reflect the current basic issue of misuse of bottles. Women need to be
educated on
the "how to's","careful of's", "beware of's" and not be treated as
"weak-gullible-mindless-
selfish-detached" women that need to be saved from marketing images.
Do we follow the Code as if it is some sort of Holy Grail? Or do we look at
the document
and and see what relevance it has to the culture and THEN strategize its use
to increase
breastfeeding rates? If it is a living document- I want to know what world
does it reflect?
We are using the same illogical argument used regarding sex education in
schools- "let's
teach abstinence only, and pretend no teen will have sex and therefore,
there is no need to educate them on birth control because if you speak of
birth control...
well, you are giving them permission to have sex. Let's pretend no one has
sex until they
are married and then we won't have to deal with it." Is this not what we
are doing with
bottles and teets with mothers?
I am not advocating babes be bottle fed, but I am advocating that the Code
be updated to
reflect the change in culture. Maybe instead of hiding the bottles in "brown
bags," there
should be education for those that use bottles and the Code should be
specific and not
open to extreme self serving interpretations that changes with the wind.
This is but one issue in the code that needs to be updated. There are many
others. I am
not saying that we should get rid of the Code, but it is just a document. A
document which
really really needs to be reviewed under a clean white light before it is
adopted has the
Holy Grail of Lactation.
I know I am not alone. I'm willing to bet there is someone out there that
agrees. I am
willing to be the one who publicly points and states- "The Emperor wears no
clothes."-
Renee Palting, RN, IBCLC, RLC
Tucson, Arizona, USA
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