Medela is not being Code compliant by marketing 'bottles' to parents
in a way that makes bottle feeding 'appealing' as a choice.  Not
because they make bottles, not because they market pumps.  What
bothers me as much as Medela is the number of IBCLCs who do not get
why this is wrong.  Medela makes a great pump. They make a seriously
lousy bottle. Even if you think they are just a great company and we
should let them market their bottles, at the very least, be aware the
bottle itself is going to interfere with breastfeeding in the long
run.  It is a problem in itself in design, never mind marketing.
Medela KNOWS that it is being non Code cmpliant. Medela DOES NOT CARE
about what 'we' think.  They made us useless to them. Part of the
marketing of their products and future success was to separate
themselves from IBCLC's and create a consumer driven market for their
products, not a health care driven market.  So, they made it difficult
if not impossible for private practice LCs to obtain their products
for sale or lease.  They created a market in mass market stores,
online, and went straight to the mothers.

Now, this is not a problem  It is not a Code issue either.  It is just
a plan of action so that in the future if they were going to choose to
flip us off and go non Code on us, they could do it with zero impact
to their bottom line. And, please, do not mistake the sales pitch
concern for real caring.  They could care less about mothers and
babies and breastfeeding.  It is all about how much money they make.
Have you ever listened to a formula rep drivel on abuot the importance
of good formulas?  How it helps the babies?  How important it is to
the health of babies, and that even though breastmilk is good, it is
not for everyone?  Blah blah blah.  I have a sister in law who loves
to annoy me with this marketing nonsense.  No one is going to say "oh,
we don't care, we just want to make money."  Medela needed to separate
itself from the lactation community so it could do as it pleases for
the bottom line.

I do not sell or rent products. It feels good to not be beholden to a
company's bottom line when I serve my mommas and babies. It feels just
as good to not have my bottom line linked to product sales  I don't
worry if I am going to miss a rental opportunity and have to pay
another month for that pump in my closet. I don't whip out a nipple
shield to sell because I need to get my money back on that case I
purchased. I am not saying LCs do this of course, but the reailty is,
when you spent a thousand dollars to get it set up, you do need to
recoup that money. It is good busines to not lose money on products.
And we too need to consider our bottom line.  Medela knew that. So,
they cut ties to us as much as they could.  They kept ties to the
hospitals because most hospitals could not care less about Code
issues. Medela does not need us.  They think we need them. They want
us to think we need them more than they need us. And reading the posts
here defending the Code violation in exchange for the good pump, I
have to say, they have been very successful.

People keep posting with stories of why pumps are important, and that
for me is just further proof of Medela's success.  If 'we' have got to
that place that we too believe every mother needs a pump, and Medela
has the best there is, well, wow, they are very good at marketing
aren't they?  Yes, there are many many babies who NEED their mother to
express milk and feed them another way because breastfeeding is not
possible. This is a truth and we all know that.  No one, absolutely no
one, is saying that pumps are the issue, that pumps are wrong, that we
should not have pumps.  We are not even saying bottles are wrong and
there should be no bottles.  All we are sayng is to be Code complaint
companies cannot market their bottles in a way that makes them more
appealing than breastfeeding...glorifies the bottle so to speak. And,
of all companies who should know better, Medela is on the top of the
list.  Stop making excuses for them,and instead demand they stop.
They should respect the community that works with breastfeeding
mothers enough to not do it just because we are ethically bound to
honor the Code!  They should do it because they are asking us to
compromise OUR ethics for THEIR bottom line.  They are wrong.  They
should make what they want, sell what they want, and market their
pumps all they want. But, they need to stop marketing their bottle as
the best thing ever, because the best thing ever is a mother's
breasts.

If we cannot agree on this simple reality, than Medela really got
their money's worth from their marketing advisors.  If we cannot hold
Medela to a standard we ask of other companies, we are hypocrites. We
won't be shooting ourselves in the foot as one suggested.  We will be
proving we can work within ethics.  We most likely will not make a
dent in Medela's profit. That they already made sure of.  But at least
we can be honest about where we are as professionals.  At what point
we are willing to hand over our ethics so a company can make money.
Really, that is what this is about.  Money.  Only money.

Take care,
Pam MazzellDiBosco, IBCLC, RLC
Florida

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