Yesterday marked the beginning of World Breastfeeding Week (WBW)! So, you'll have to forgive this non-Rowan post for a little bit of activism. For those not interested, there will be more picks of our cutie pie coming soon!
The theme of WBW this year is “Code Watch: 25 Years of Protecting Breastfeeding.” The theme refers to the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. The code prohibits aggressive marketing strategies, such as promoting formula through health-care facilities and providing free samples to new mothers.
Violations of the code are widespread in this country. After Rowan was born, I received free Enfamil formula at our birth center and free Similac formula at our pediatrician’s office. Then I received another box of free Enfamil in the mail! (How did they get my address?) By the time Rowan was two weeks old I had so much formula you’d think I hadn’t told any of my health-care providers I planned to breastfeed!
These freebies are, of course, aggressive marketing tactics used by the big formula companies to boost sales. They foster the assumption that health-care providers recommend certain (expensive) formula brands and formula feeding in general. They also give the impression that even women who breastfeed need to supplement with formula.
While I recognize and respect that not all women are able to breastfeed, I wrote letters to our birth center and pediatrician's office encouraging them to stop giving out formula advertisements (and pseudo-endorsements) to new mothers — particularly those planning to breastfeed. I feel it’s a conflict of interest for doctors to help formula companies advertise their products — especially since the American Academy of Pediatrics advocates exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months (to be continued with the introduction of solids for one year or longer) to promote optimum infant health and development.
If you want more info on World Breastfeeding Week, visit http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/.
For more information about breastfeeding, visit http://www.lalecheleague.org.
Coming up tomorrow: super cute bathtub picks of little Rowan!
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