Thursday, June 28, 2012

Darn Nestle! They're taking after Enfamil - Getting mamas to do their work

Please mommy bloggers, especially if you breastfeed, stop allowing these big companies to use YOU as their way to get more moms to stop breastfeeding.

Earlier in June reports came out that indicated most women don't meet their OWN breastfeeding goals. This isn't my goal for them. This isn't the government's goal for them. This is THEIR goals. So STOP helping Nestle (AKA Gerber) and Enfamil promote their products. This promotion type (direct to moms) is against the World Health Organization's code on marketing of breastmilk substitutes.

One stat said,
"More than 85% of new moms said they intended to breastfeed for three months or longer, but just 32.4% met their mark."


Many have stopped before they left the hospital. Formula companies are in almost all hospitals in the US, leaving samples to moms before they can even see a lactation consultant.

I posted earlier about Enfamil... but now I see people are doing the same for Gerber (which is really Nestle').

Yes, I will continue to stop following any mom blog who shows up with one of these promos in my news feed.

Again, MOMs have goals and these posts do not help them get there. 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's frustrating because so many women have a great goal about doing it but there are so many "distractions" and the companies prey on those and therefor make it easier just to give a kid a bottle rather than to take the time to breastfeed. I have had 5 children and nursed all of them-no granted I did supplement a little-for those times when I knew I couldn't be around (I didn't have a good pump).

Melanie said...

I'm kind of impressed that my state (Rhode Island) just became the first in the nation to prohibit hospitals from offering formula samples in the hospital to new mothers, unless they specifically state that they do not plan to breast feed.

Unknown said...

I have to admit, while I am not a fan of formula either, I am glad it is available. My beautiful daughter was almost exclusively breastfed for a wonderful 12 weeks (We did one breast milk bottle per night after establishing feeding so her daddy could actively participate in feeding). And then... My milk just stopped. I started getting concerned when I noticed her showing cues after shorter periods.

So I started expressing more often, to try to increase the supply. This was when I noticed just how extremely my supply had dropped. I'd gone from being able to express roughly six ounces every hour and a half just a week after bringing her home, to all of a sudden only getting 30 mils or so.

Two days later, I expressed a grand spanking total of two ounces... For the day. While I would truly have loved the option to breastfeed my little girl for her first year, my body simply did not give me the option. I wouldn't rest the blame for the decrease in breastfeeding solely on the businesses... They are simply making a product available - a product that, for women like me, can be a life saver.

Maybe we should focus more on education, and teaching women what the benefits are of breastfeeding. Treat the disease, not the symptoms, you know?

Michelle said...

Pumping is NOT an indication of supply. Baby is much better at getting milk out than a pump. 12 weeks is a prime time for a growth spurt. Baby should be nursing more often to increase supply. Demand = supply. Your milk didn't stop. You stopped producing for the pump and your baby was trying to up your supply for her growth spurt.

Rachel R said...

Just want to point out.. I see a formula ad on this blog. Its an "adchoices" ad for nutrimegen. you might want to look into your ad settings and see if you can block it from showing up.

Unknown said...

Sorry, Michelle, no. My milk stopped. Went to the LLL, and several lactation consultants. They thought it was just a growth spurt too... Until she started getting to the point where she was absolutely screaming, she was so hungry, and started losing weight.

This was my body, and it is not a unique situation. While not extremely common, I am not the first woman to just stop producing for no particular reason. Please do not make assumptions; they are unfair, and in this case, wildly inaccurate.

And she didn't have her growth spurt at twelve weeks; we had one at approximately four weeks, and then again at sixteen weeks. So again, nuts to you for assumption.

The point was, some women do not have a choice, and I happen to disagree with the demonization of formula. Do I necessarily agree with certain companies' advertisement tactics? Not always. But this post, and especially the "Blacklist" post take that perspective too far. It feels more like an attack on those of us who do not or cannot breastfeed, for any number of reasons; to ask (or demand) other blogging moms to stop offering discounts on formula - particularly when some babies can only tolerate one or two kinds - is essentially asking to punish the mother - not the company.

Personally boycott all you want, but do not punish those of us stuck on another path than your own.