The Politics of Breastfeeding
Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 08:45:27 AM PDT
I’ve been an avid reader of the attachment parenting resource Mothering Magazine since my son was an infant. Mothering’s editor, Peggy O’Mara has written a very interesting editorial about how she feels breastfeeding is in trouble. According to O’Mara, breastfeeding initiation rates dropped when infant formula companies began to advertise to consumers in 1989 via magazine and television. At the same time, she says that breastfeeding advocates became more active to actually increase the initiation rate to an all time high of 70.1% in 2002. Then, in 2003 she says the unthinkable happened. The rate drops 4% to 66%.
And, the numbers themselves might be somewhat skewed as they are compiled by formula manufacturer Abbott-Ross. And, you might be surprised to find out that breastfeeding initiation rates are defined as “one breastfeeding during one day”. So, if breastfeeding is just “tried”, that counts as “breastfeeding initiation”. It may not even be exclusive breastfeeding... but mixed feeding including formula.
As we’ve discussed many times before, this country does nothing to help moms exclusively breastfeed. Lack of paid maternity leave and lack of support to moms who choose to pump at work present major obstacles to successful breastfeeding. O’Mara describes how it affects mothers from different socioeconomic backgrounds:
...because the six weeks of unpaid leave that we do get—if we can afford to take it—barely give us enough time to establish breastfeeding, much less figure out how to combine it with working. In addition, white-collar workers have greater access to lactation support in the workplace than do blue-collar workers. We need laws that protect every woman's right to breastfeed or pump in the workplace, and provide training for employers about breastfeeding's advantages. Numerous studies have shown that the many benefits include lower health care costs, less absenteeism, improved staff productivity, and lower employee turnover.
And, how about this? Some websites that appear to be breastfeeding advocacy sites are actually just “mouthpieces for the formula industry”. MomsFeedingFreedom tells moms they need to stop the Ban The Bags campaign. Here’s where the politics comes into play:
One such website, www.momsfeedingfreedom.com, is registered to eNilsson, an international Web consulting firm whose clients include Romney for President. Republican candidate Mitt Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, pressured his state's Public Health Council to rescind a ban on the bags of free formula given by hospitals to new mothers and paid for by formula companies. The website states that "the opinions and views expressed on this website are of Kate Kahn," a corporate communications strategist based in Boston. A sister site, www.babyfeedingchoice.org, is licensed to Kellen Communications, a public relations firm whose clients include the International Formula Council.
As you may recall, Massachusetts was the first state to institute the “Ban the Bag” policy. Governor Romney pressured the Public Health department to put a hold on the ban in May of 2006. The result?
Less than two weeks later, Romney announced a deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb, the world's largest formula manufacturer, to build a $66 million pharmaceutical plant in Devens, Massachusetts.
So, it’s not about choice. It’s about corporate profits. Take a look at the abysmal breastfeeding rates in some developing countries:
Sub-Saharan Africa has a rate of 32 percent; Asia, overall, 35 percent; Indonesia, 39 percent. In Vietnam, only 19 percent breastfeed, and in Thailand, only 5 percent.
If the majority of babies in those countries are formula fed, you can imagine the enourmous profits for US formula companies.
In the Philippines, the government tried to do something about raising their 16% breastfeeding initiation rate. When they did, the infant formula industry stepped in and sued the Philippine Health Department from new rules like stricter labeling and accurate health claims from being enacted.
In July 2006, the Philippine Supreme Court denied the formula companies a restraining order, but on August 15 it overturned its earlier decision and granted the restraining order to PHAP. This action was taken just four days after Thomas Donohue, president of the US Chamber of Commerce, wrote a letter to President Gloria Arroyo in which he threatened the Philippines with loss of international investment (www.babymilkaction.org).
No, breastfeeding advocates aren’t crazy like Bill Maher would have us believe. I think sometimes advocates are portrayed as nutjobs trying to push an agenda. On the contrary... I think it’s just retaliation to the corporate greed of the formula industry. As long as there’s profit to be made by pharmaceutical companies, breastfeeding can and will be compromised.
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