Cathy,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It does allow us to each reflect on
our personal motivations and assumptions. I appreciate this. I also wonder,
in response to your last paragraph, if the ever increasing need for these
products is not at least in some ways, a result of the marketing practices.
IF there were not teats and bottles available whose manufacturers were
spending cartloads of money "selling" to us, the general public, and the
mothers.... MIGHT we not have more employers willing to discuss extended family
leave, on site care centers, accompanying babies? If the options were
different, would the expectations and common practices be different? If the
perceived options were different, would the perceived solutions be different?
Even IF all assembly line, chicken plant, canning factory.... workers
truly NEEDED these items, (and there is at least one apple packing plant in the
Northwest USA which has proven this is not the case). How many of the
managers in other industries and offices are not really insidiously creating
barriers for breastfeeding mothers but are really acting in response to this
marketing?
IF there are teats and bottles so perfectly matched to the situation, why
should I allow an employee to bring her baby to the workplace? Why should I
need to make any accommodations - especially if they cost me or I perceive
a cost?
My sister has a jejunostomy tube (a J tube). Although I frequently see
catheters and other ostomy products advertised on TV (here in the USA), I have
yet to see a j tube commercial... (although with the increase in bariatric
surgeries, I am sure we will one day)...but my parents have the option of
choosing from several manufacturers. The fact that they are not marketed to
them directly does not eliminate their choice.... We do not receive free
samples in the mail, we do not see many choices in glossy photos on
magazines, there are not warm and fuzzy videos explaining how wonderful these
options are, or why we might choose one over the other... but we know they are
there. We (with the assistance and input of her hcp) have tried several and
chosen the one with which we get the best results. We do not find this to be
patronizing.
So, no, I do not think we should change the code. I think this may even
prove why the code is important.
Laura Goodwin-Wright
Mississippi, USA
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:32:41 +0800
From: Cathy Fetherston <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: industry funded research
Much is often said about “code violations” in regard to the advertising of
bottle and teats for the administration of EBM. Given the ever increasing
numbers of women needing to use these aids to give their babies breastmilk
(esp mothers returning to work) should we consider changing this part of
the
code? I have seen the view that business shouldn’t be allowed to advertise
directly to mothers for this purpose and that they could advertise to us
only, who would then make the decisions about what is best for a mother to
choose. This struck me as being very paternalistic, I would be interested
to
hear what others have to say on this.
Warm regards
Cathy Fetherston RM PhD IBCLC
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