So I thought I'd post something that actually has Claire in it, as I've been posting a lot of breastfeeding stuff lately. We've been really busy lately! We went to the Breastfeeding Challenge this morning and had a lot of fun! I figure if people don't want to read all the breastfeeding posts, they can skip them. I find the stuff fascinating myself.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Formula Use Increases Chances of Contracting Breast Cancer
The things they keep finding out! And the things I keep learning about breastfeeding! Here is an interesting read: Formula Use Increases Chances of Contracting Breast Cancer. http://phdinparenting.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/save-yourself-save-our-health-care-system/
Friday, October 10, 2008
Boobies are for babies!
http://www.comcast.net/entertainment/popcast/13844/jolienursingonmagazinecover/ Angelina Jolie nursing on the cover. Yay!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Crunchy Mommies?
How crunchy are you? Take this fun quiz to find out http://www.themoralesfamily.us/granola.htm
Ok, Mom, I know you're asking what a CRUNCHY MOMMY is.
We natural moms have a bunch of labels like hippie, granola, and even crunchy. Well, I get asked all the time what in the world crunchy means so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Urban Dictionary online has a definition for crunchy mama.
Crunchy Mama:
Mother who supports homebirth, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. One who questions established medical authority; tends to be vegetarian and/or prepare all-organic foods. See crunchy and hippie.
So by this definition are you a crunchy mama? (I found this here: http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/04/07/crunchy-moms/ to give credit)
I got a 109. Haha. They had a question about sandals. I *hate* shoes. And I love me "my" sandals. Now why didn't they have a bra question on there? :) Tell me what you scored? I want to know.
Ok, Mom, I know you're asking what a CRUNCHY MOMMY is.
We natural moms have a bunch of labels like hippie, granola, and even crunchy. Well, I get asked all the time what in the world crunchy means so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Urban Dictionary online has a definition for crunchy mama.
Crunchy Mama:
Mother who supports homebirth, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. One who questions established medical authority; tends to be vegetarian and/or prepare all-organic foods. See crunchy and hippie.
So by this definition are you a crunchy mama? (I found this here: http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/04/07/crunchy-moms/ to give credit)
I got a 109. Haha. They had a question about sandals. I *hate* shoes. And I love me "my" sandals. Now why didn't they have a bra question on there? :) Tell me what you scored? I want to know.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Formula is a Health Risk
From this site: http://www.breastfeeding.com/reading_room/formula_disaster.html
Formula for disaster
Many new parents think infant formula is the next best thing to Mom, but nothing could be further from the truth. by Katie Allison Granju When Tabitha Walrond's 7-week-old infant died of starvation last year, the fact that this young New York mother had attempted to breast-feed her baby -albeit with obvious lack of success - was widely blamed for the complex and haunting tragedy. The national headlines regarding the Walrond case were ongoing and sensational. "Nursed to Death" read one. "Breast-feeding can kill?" inquired another.During the same period, the similar death of the 6-week-old breast-fed baby of another New York mother, Tatiana Cheeks, raised further breast-feeding concerns in the press and with the public. This time one headline read "Nursing Death?" In 1995, a widely-circulated Wall Street Journal article detailing dehydration in several middle-class breast-fed babies whose mothers had experienced breast-feeding difficulties led to a surge in phone calls to pediatricians and hospital hotlines across the country from new parents worried that breast-feeding itself could somehow harm their infants. Given this environment, many conscientious new parents may conclude that formula-feeding represents a safer alternative to the potential "dangers" of breast-feeding. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.In virtually all of the reported cases each year in which a breast-fed baby becomes seriously ill as a result of her mother's feeding choice, the problem is actually one of not breast-feeding -meaning that, as in the Walrond and Cheeks cases, some uninformed and unsupported nursing mothers are not aware that they aren't effectively transferring milk from their breasts to their babies. In sharp contrast, however, routine formula feeding -even when done properly by parents -is itself a contributor to overall rates of infant morbidity and mortality in the United States. This is because - despite what manufacturers' advertising would have parents believe -today's commercial infant formulas, while a marked improvement over the homemade concoctions of years past, still represent a flawed and highly inferior imitation of our own, species-specific milk. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics' most recent member survey, a majority of baby doctors see slightly more formula-fed babies than breast-fed babies admitted to the hospital for instances of malnutrition and failure to thrive. But this represents only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the differences in rates of morbidity and mortality between formula-fed and breast-fed infants in this country. When the overall health of formula-fed infants in the U.S. is compared to that of breast-fed infants -even after controlling for variables such as parents' socioeconomic backgrounds - it becomes clear that formula-fed babies are sicker, sick more often, and are more likely to die in infancy or childhood. However, parents often lack access to this information, and in fact, are often the recipients of misinformation, thus denied the ability to make truly informed choices regarding how they will feed their babies. Although the phrase "breast-feeding is best" is tossed around so liberally as to have been rendered almost meaningless, many Americans are under the mistaken impression that today's commercial infant formulas are nearly identical to human milk. And because of this, parents who routinely approach other important infant health and safety issues in a thoughtful, deliberate way are largely unaware that in epidemiological terms, the decision to formula-feed when breast-feeding is an option places their child at demonstrably higher risk for a wide variety of ailments."Parents are not adequately informed regarding the real risks of artificial milks [infant formula]," says Nancy Wight, MD, FAAP, IBCLC, and a neonatologist at Children's Hospital in San Diego. She says that she considers it part of her job to strongly encourage the parents of her patients to breast-feed. "Doctors never worry about making parents feel guilty when we discuss childhood immunizations, car seats, seatbelts, bicycle helmets or fencing around pools. I have an obligation to my patients to give them correct information - not formula marketing slogans - and let them make the choice."Dr. Lawrence Gartner, MD, FAAP is a respected medical authority on infant feeding who has played a role in drafting policy statements for the AAP regarding this issue. He agrees that parents today aren't fully aware that the breast-or-bottle decision is more than just another neutral lifestyle choice. "Compared to other equally important child safety issues like car seat use or babies' sleep position, parents should understand that the decision whether to breast- or bottle-feed ranks right up on top when it comes to protecting babies. The AAP certainly puts it in that category."In fact, the AAP explicitly states that encouraging breast-feeding among parents is "as important to preventive pediatric health care as promoting immunizations, car seat use, and proper infant sleep position." Katherine Dettwyler, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology at Texas A&M University and an internationally recognized expert on infant nutrition, agrees with Gartner's assessment of the relative risks of "artificial feeding" for American children. "I would rank the decision of how to feed your baby as the No. 1 infant safety issue in this country," says Dettwyler.Despite the widespread misperception that aggressive promotion of breast-feeding has had a major impact on how we feed our babies, more than 70% of infants in the United States are fed infant formula as their primary source of nutrition for most of their critical first year of life. According to a recent report in the Washington Post, although a federal survey in 1995 found that 58% of American mothers start off breast-feeding their babies -- the same percentage as a decade earlier - 20% fewer mothers today are still breast-feeding after three months. While it is certainly true that many individual formula-fed infants will do "just fine" (as will most unvaccinated individuals in the United States), the research clearly indicates that, as a population, America's formula-fed babies are not "fine" at allParents may reasonably ask why, with research demonstrating the many and serious potential health hazards of routine bottle-feeding, do so many otherwise competent doctors continue to take a neutral or even pro-formula stance with their patients? As pediatrician and author Dr. Jay Gordon noted in the book "So That's What They're For: Breastfeeding Basics," by Janet Tamaro-Natt: "This [infant feeding] seems to be the one area where you can practice medicine in the 1990s -with 1960s know-how - and not get sued."
The failure of many medical professionals to fully inform their patients of the impact of infant feeding choices is due in large part to their own ignorance of the facts. Most obstetricians, pediatricians and nurses graduate from their professional training having had little or no exposure to the most up-to-date literature or clinical practice in this area. In fact, a recent AAP survey revealed that 45 percent of pediatrician respondents stated that they see formula-feeding and breast-feeding as equally acceptable methods for feeding an infant. The survey further noted that "nearly equal proportions of pediatricians agree and disagree as to whether formula-fed babies are just as healthy in the long run as breast-fed babies (34 percent vs. 38 percent); 27 percent are undecided." These statistics reveal a shocking unfamiliarity with the large and growing body of current research on this topic. In many cases, health care providers' views on infant feeding are based on their own, highly personal experiences. A nurse who chose to formula-feed her own children or a doctor whose wife weaned her baby at three weeks is unlikely to be an effective advocate for breast-feeding. A large-scale study of physicians' knowledge of human lactation in a 1995 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the most important factor influencing the effectiveness and accuracy of a doctor's breast-feeding advice to patients was whether the doctor herself, or the doctor's wife, had breast-fed her children. In a March 1999 report on breast-feeding promotion efforts by American doctors, Pediatrics magazine concluded, "A majority of pediatricians believe that breast-feeding and formula-feeding are equally acceptable methods for feeding infants. Furthermore, reasons given for not recommending breast-feeding include medical conditions such as mastitis, nipple problems, low milk supply, jaundice, and low weight gain, which have recognized therapeutic approaches that generally do not preclude breast-feeding.""Doctors need to do better in giving their patients good information and support regarding infant feeding," says Dr. Gartner, who has traveled the country offering lactation training to physicians and hospitals. "But it takes a great deal more education to do this. It's easy to explain to parents why they should put their baby in a car seat, but human lactation is much more complex. Many, if not most doctors are carrying around a lot of wrong information about breast-feeding versus bottle-feeding. In order to be effective, they have to unlearn those misconceptions."Infant formula companies have traditionally targeted health-care professionals as the quickest route to convincing mothers that formula-feeding represents a safe, nourishing option for their babies. Physicians and nurses in the U.S. routinely receive gifts, office supplies, meals, a year's supply of free infant formula for themselves or a relative and even pricey vacations from the infant-formula marketing representatives who haunt their offices. According to Dr. Dettwyler, some pediatric residency programs are largely underwritten by infant-formula manufacturers, an allegation verified by the National Association of Breastfeeding Advocacy and the International Lactation Consultants Association. Not surprisingly, more than 70 percent of surveyed pediatricians recently reported to the AAP that they recommend a particular brand of infant formula to their patients. (In contrast, Pediatrics reported that only 65 percent of pediatricians surveyed recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first month after birth; only 37 percent recommend breastfeeding for the first year, as recommended last year by the AAP.) The 1996 annual report from Abbott Laboratories, makers of Similac infant formula, took note of this cozy tie between the medical community and infant-formula manufacturers, stating that, "Abbott's close relationship with pediatricians and other health-care providers serves as the foundation for the company's solid market position in the United States. Pediatricians are also key to the success of the consumer education programs, such as the Welcome Addition Club ...a program that provides new and expectant parents with a broad range of information, from nutrition and breast-feeding tips to basic parenting skills."In 1994, after years of stalling by Republican administrations that opposed it, the United States joined every other developed nation in the world as a signatory to the "WHO Code," an international agreement that, among other things, calls for an end to formula promotion and giveaways through the health-care system and includes a clause stating that "no financial or material inducements should be offered by [infant formula] manufacturers or distributors to health workers, or members of their families, nor should these be accepted." Despite the WHO Code, virtually all hospitals in the United States offering maternity services - as well as the majority of individual obstetricians and pediatricians - continue to provide massive free advertising from the huge pharmaceutical companies that produce and market formula in the United States. Such promotional material comes in the form of formula giveaways, patient "educational literature" produced by the formula companies and even free baby equipment such as diaper bags. Obviously, marketing and product giveaways on this scale cost infant-formula companies millions and millions of dollars each year. But it pays off. Their own market research, as well as medical literature and anecdotal observations by lactation professionals, have demonstrated that these tactics make it statistically less likely that a women will breast-feed without supplementation or breast-feed at all. And once a woman stops nursing and begins feeding infant formula, these companies know that they likely have her "hooked" on their product, since even a brief interruption in the nursing relationship can cause a woman's own milk supply to dwindle or the baby to begin refusing breast in favor of bottle. American hospitals have largely shrugged off the idea that accepting free formula and large cash "donations" in return for a particular formula company's right to market directly to its patients represents an ethical problem. Around the world, thousands of hospitals have become certified by the World Health Organization as "Baby-Friendly" by agreeing to aggressively and accurately promote breast-feeding and to end the practice of allowing infant-formula companies to offer freebies to personnel or patients. In the United States, however, fewer than 20 hospitals and birthing centers have received the Baby-Friendly designation. "Hospitals should not be accepting free infant formula from these companies. They know that if they didn't accept it, they would have a reduced sense of obligation to promote formula. Their continued acceptance of this practice says something important," notes Dr. Cunningham.Because the WHO Code hasn't been incorporated into federal law in the United States as it has in some other countries, it is impossible to enforce. And although American infant formula companies claim to voluntarily adhere to the code's provisions, including no direct marketing of infant formula to consumers, they openly flout the code and their own assurances of compliance. This can be made clear by flipping through any popular parenting magazine or watching any television program geared toward women in which appealing ads for infant formula are abundant. Nestle, the notorious maker of Carnation brand formulas, is perhaps most disingenuous when it comes to adherence to the WHO Code. On its Carnation Baby Web site, parents who live in other countries are asked to read a statement in which Nestle makes a feeble attempt to comply with the code by warning against bottle-feeding. American parents entering the site receive no such statement from Nestle. copyright, 1997, 1998, Katie Allison Granju.
There are more interesting articles here: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/formula-discharge-samples.html
Formula for disaster
Many new parents think infant formula is the next best thing to Mom, but nothing could be further from the truth. by Katie Allison Granju When Tabitha Walrond's 7-week-old infant died of starvation last year, the fact that this young New York mother had attempted to breast-feed her baby -albeit with obvious lack of success - was widely blamed for the complex and haunting tragedy. The national headlines regarding the Walrond case were ongoing and sensational. "Nursed to Death" read one. "Breast-feeding can kill?" inquired another.During the same period, the similar death of the 6-week-old breast-fed baby of another New York mother, Tatiana Cheeks, raised further breast-feeding concerns in the press and with the public. This time one headline read "Nursing Death?" In 1995, a widely-circulated Wall Street Journal article detailing dehydration in several middle-class breast-fed babies whose mothers had experienced breast-feeding difficulties led to a surge in phone calls to pediatricians and hospital hotlines across the country from new parents worried that breast-feeding itself could somehow harm their infants. Given this environment, many conscientious new parents may conclude that formula-feeding represents a safer alternative to the potential "dangers" of breast-feeding. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.In virtually all of the reported cases each year in which a breast-fed baby becomes seriously ill as a result of her mother's feeding choice, the problem is actually one of not breast-feeding -meaning that, as in the Walrond and Cheeks cases, some uninformed and unsupported nursing mothers are not aware that they aren't effectively transferring milk from their breasts to their babies. In sharp contrast, however, routine formula feeding -even when done properly by parents -is itself a contributor to overall rates of infant morbidity and mortality in the United States. This is because - despite what manufacturers' advertising would have parents believe -today's commercial infant formulas, while a marked improvement over the homemade concoctions of years past, still represent a flawed and highly inferior imitation of our own, species-specific milk. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics' most recent member survey, a majority of baby doctors see slightly more formula-fed babies than breast-fed babies admitted to the hospital for instances of malnutrition and failure to thrive. But this represents only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the differences in rates of morbidity and mortality between formula-fed and breast-fed infants in this country. When the overall health of formula-fed infants in the U.S. is compared to that of breast-fed infants -even after controlling for variables such as parents' socioeconomic backgrounds - it becomes clear that formula-fed babies are sicker, sick more often, and are more likely to die in infancy or childhood. However, parents often lack access to this information, and in fact, are often the recipients of misinformation, thus denied the ability to make truly informed choices regarding how they will feed their babies. Although the phrase "breast-feeding is best" is tossed around so liberally as to have been rendered almost meaningless, many Americans are under the mistaken impression that today's commercial infant formulas are nearly identical to human milk. And because of this, parents who routinely approach other important infant health and safety issues in a thoughtful, deliberate way are largely unaware that in epidemiological terms, the decision to formula-feed when breast-feeding is an option places their child at demonstrably higher risk for a wide variety of ailments."Parents are not adequately informed regarding the real risks of artificial milks [infant formula]," says Nancy Wight, MD, FAAP, IBCLC, and a neonatologist at Children's Hospital in San Diego. She says that she considers it part of her job to strongly encourage the parents of her patients to breast-feed. "Doctors never worry about making parents feel guilty when we discuss childhood immunizations, car seats, seatbelts, bicycle helmets or fencing around pools. I have an obligation to my patients to give them correct information - not formula marketing slogans - and let them make the choice."Dr. Lawrence Gartner, MD, FAAP is a respected medical authority on infant feeding who has played a role in drafting policy statements for the AAP regarding this issue. He agrees that parents today aren't fully aware that the breast-or-bottle decision is more than just another neutral lifestyle choice. "Compared to other equally important child safety issues like car seat use or babies' sleep position, parents should understand that the decision whether to breast- or bottle-feed ranks right up on top when it comes to protecting babies. The AAP certainly puts it in that category."In fact, the AAP explicitly states that encouraging breast-feeding among parents is "as important to preventive pediatric health care as promoting immunizations, car seat use, and proper infant sleep position." Katherine Dettwyler, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology at Texas A&M University and an internationally recognized expert on infant nutrition, agrees with Gartner's assessment of the relative risks of "artificial feeding" for American children. "I would rank the decision of how to feed your baby as the No. 1 infant safety issue in this country," says Dettwyler.Despite the widespread misperception that aggressive promotion of breast-feeding has had a major impact on how we feed our babies, more than 70% of infants in the United States are fed infant formula as their primary source of nutrition for most of their critical first year of life. According to a recent report in the Washington Post, although a federal survey in 1995 found that 58% of American mothers start off breast-feeding their babies -- the same percentage as a decade earlier - 20% fewer mothers today are still breast-feeding after three months. While it is certainly true that many individual formula-fed infants will do "just fine" (as will most unvaccinated individuals in the United States), the research clearly indicates that, as a population, America's formula-fed babies are not "fine" at allParents may reasonably ask why, with research demonstrating the many and serious potential health hazards of routine bottle-feeding, do so many otherwise competent doctors continue to take a neutral or even pro-formula stance with their patients? As pediatrician and author Dr. Jay Gordon noted in the book "So That's What They're For: Breastfeeding Basics," by Janet Tamaro-Natt: "This [infant feeding] seems to be the one area where you can practice medicine in the 1990s -with 1960s know-how - and not get sued."
The failure of many medical professionals to fully inform their patients of the impact of infant feeding choices is due in large part to their own ignorance of the facts. Most obstetricians, pediatricians and nurses graduate from their professional training having had little or no exposure to the most up-to-date literature or clinical practice in this area. In fact, a recent AAP survey revealed that 45 percent of pediatrician respondents stated that they see formula-feeding and breast-feeding as equally acceptable methods for feeding an infant. The survey further noted that "nearly equal proportions of pediatricians agree and disagree as to whether formula-fed babies are just as healthy in the long run as breast-fed babies (34 percent vs. 38 percent); 27 percent are undecided." These statistics reveal a shocking unfamiliarity with the large and growing body of current research on this topic. In many cases, health care providers' views on infant feeding are based on their own, highly personal experiences. A nurse who chose to formula-feed her own children or a doctor whose wife weaned her baby at three weeks is unlikely to be an effective advocate for breast-feeding. A large-scale study of physicians' knowledge of human lactation in a 1995 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the most important factor influencing the effectiveness and accuracy of a doctor's breast-feeding advice to patients was whether the doctor herself, or the doctor's wife, had breast-fed her children. In a March 1999 report on breast-feeding promotion efforts by American doctors, Pediatrics magazine concluded, "A majority of pediatricians believe that breast-feeding and formula-feeding are equally acceptable methods for feeding infants. Furthermore, reasons given for not recommending breast-feeding include medical conditions such as mastitis, nipple problems, low milk supply, jaundice, and low weight gain, which have recognized therapeutic approaches that generally do not preclude breast-feeding.""Doctors need to do better in giving their patients good information and support regarding infant feeding," says Dr. Gartner, who has traveled the country offering lactation training to physicians and hospitals. "But it takes a great deal more education to do this. It's easy to explain to parents why they should put their baby in a car seat, but human lactation is much more complex. Many, if not most doctors are carrying around a lot of wrong information about breast-feeding versus bottle-feeding. In order to be effective, they have to unlearn those misconceptions."Infant formula companies have traditionally targeted health-care professionals as the quickest route to convincing mothers that formula-feeding represents a safe, nourishing option for their babies. Physicians and nurses in the U.S. routinely receive gifts, office supplies, meals, a year's supply of free infant formula for themselves or a relative and even pricey vacations from the infant-formula marketing representatives who haunt their offices. According to Dr. Dettwyler, some pediatric residency programs are largely underwritten by infant-formula manufacturers, an allegation verified by the National Association of Breastfeeding Advocacy and the International Lactation Consultants Association. Not surprisingly, more than 70 percent of surveyed pediatricians recently reported to the AAP that they recommend a particular brand of infant formula to their patients. (In contrast, Pediatrics reported that only 65 percent of pediatricians surveyed recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first month after birth; only 37 percent recommend breastfeeding for the first year, as recommended last year by the AAP.) The 1996 annual report from Abbott Laboratories, makers of Similac infant formula, took note of this cozy tie between the medical community and infant-formula manufacturers, stating that, "Abbott's close relationship with pediatricians and other health-care providers serves as the foundation for the company's solid market position in the United States. Pediatricians are also key to the success of the consumer education programs, such as the Welcome Addition Club ...a program that provides new and expectant parents with a broad range of information, from nutrition and breast-feeding tips to basic parenting skills."In 1994, after years of stalling by Republican administrations that opposed it, the United States joined every other developed nation in the world as a signatory to the "WHO Code," an international agreement that, among other things, calls for an end to formula promotion and giveaways through the health-care system and includes a clause stating that "no financial or material inducements should be offered by [infant formula] manufacturers or distributors to health workers, or members of their families, nor should these be accepted." Despite the WHO Code, virtually all hospitals in the United States offering maternity services - as well as the majority of individual obstetricians and pediatricians - continue to provide massive free advertising from the huge pharmaceutical companies that produce and market formula in the United States. Such promotional material comes in the form of formula giveaways, patient "educational literature" produced by the formula companies and even free baby equipment such as diaper bags. Obviously, marketing and product giveaways on this scale cost infant-formula companies millions and millions of dollars each year. But it pays off. Their own market research, as well as medical literature and anecdotal observations by lactation professionals, have demonstrated that these tactics make it statistically less likely that a women will breast-feed without supplementation or breast-feed at all. And once a woman stops nursing and begins feeding infant formula, these companies know that they likely have her "hooked" on their product, since even a brief interruption in the nursing relationship can cause a woman's own milk supply to dwindle or the baby to begin refusing breast in favor of bottle. American hospitals have largely shrugged off the idea that accepting free formula and large cash "donations" in return for a particular formula company's right to market directly to its patients represents an ethical problem. Around the world, thousands of hospitals have become certified by the World Health Organization as "Baby-Friendly" by agreeing to aggressively and accurately promote breast-feeding and to end the practice of allowing infant-formula companies to offer freebies to personnel or patients. In the United States, however, fewer than 20 hospitals and birthing centers have received the Baby-Friendly designation. "Hospitals should not be accepting free infant formula from these companies. They know that if they didn't accept it, they would have a reduced sense of obligation to promote formula. Their continued acceptance of this practice says something important," notes Dr. Cunningham.Because the WHO Code hasn't been incorporated into federal law in the United States as it has in some other countries, it is impossible to enforce. And although American infant formula companies claim to voluntarily adhere to the code's provisions, including no direct marketing of infant formula to consumers, they openly flout the code and their own assurances of compliance. This can be made clear by flipping through any popular parenting magazine or watching any television program geared toward women in which appealing ads for infant formula are abundant. Nestle, the notorious maker of Carnation brand formulas, is perhaps most disingenuous when it comes to adherence to the WHO Code. On its Carnation Baby Web site, parents who live in other countries are asked to read a statement in which Nestle makes a feeble attempt to comply with the code by warning against bottle-feeding. American parents entering the site receive no such statement from Nestle. copyright, 1997, 1998, Katie Allison Granju.
There are more interesting articles here: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/formula-discharge-samples.html
Marketing Code for Fake Breastmilk...what's legal?
The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes
The Member States of the World Health Organisation:
Affirming the right of every child and every pregnant and lactating woman to be adequately nourished as a means of attaining and maintaining health;
Recognising that infant malnutrition is part of the wider problems of lack of education, poverty, and social injustice;
Recognising that the health of infants and young children cannot be isolated from the health and nutrition of women, their socio-economic status and their roles as mothers;
Conscious that breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; that it forms a unique biological and emotional basis for the health of both mother and child; that the anti-infective properties of breast milk help to protect infants against disease; and that there is an important relationship between breastfeeding and child spacing;
Recognising that the encouragement and protection of breastfeeding is an important part of the health, nutrition and other social measures required to promote healthy growth and development of infants and young children; and that breastfeeding is an important aspect of primary health care;
Considering that when mothers do not breastfeed, or only do so partially, there is a legitimate market for infant formula and for suitable ingredients from which to prepare it; that all these products should accordingly be made accessible to those who need them through commercial or noncommercial distribution systems; and that they should not be marketed or distributed in ways that may interfere with the protection and promotion of breastfeeding;
Recognising further that inappropriate feeding practices lead to infant malnutrition, morbidity and mortality in all countries, and that improper practices in the marketing of breastmilk substitutes and related products can contribute to these major public health problems;
Convinced that it is important for infants to receive appropriate complementary foods, usually when the infant reaches four to six months of age, and that every effort should be made to use locally available foods; and convinced, nevertheless, that such complementary foods should not be used as breastmilk substitutes;
Appreciating that there are a number of social and economic factors affecting breastfeeding, and that, accordingly, governments should develop social support systems to protect, facilitate and encourage it, and that they should create an environment that fosters breastfeeding, provides appropriate family and community support, and protects mothers from factors that inhibit breastfeeding;
Affirming that health care systems, and the health professionals and other health workers serving in them, have an essential role to play in guiding infant feeding practices, encouraging and facilitating breastfeeding, and providing objective and consistent advice to mothers and families about the superior value of breastfeeding, or, where needed, on the proper use of infant formula, whether manufactured industrially or home prepared;
Affirming further that educational systems and other social services should be involved in the protection and promotion of breastfeeding, and in the appropriate use of complementary foods;
Aware that families, communities, women's organisations and other nongovernmental organisations have a special role to play in the protection and promotion of breastfeeding and in ensuring the support needed by pregnant women and mothers of infants and young children, whether breastfeeding or not;
Affirming the need for governments, organisations of the United Nations system, nongovernmental organisations, experts in various related disciplines, consumer groups and industry to cooperate in activities aimed at the improvement of maternal, infant and young child health and nutrition;
Recognising that governments should undertake a variety of health, nutrition and other social measures to promote healthy growth and development of infants and young children, and that this Code concerns only one aspect of these measures;
Considering that manufacturers and distributors of breastmilk substitutes have an important and constructive role to play in relation to infant feeding, and in the promotion of the aim of this Code and its proper implementation;
Affirming that governments are called upon to take action appropriate to their social and legislative framework and their overall development objectives to give effect to the principles and aim of this Code, including the enactment of legislation, regulations or other suitable measures;
Believing that, in the light of the foregoing considerations, and in view of the vulnerability of infants in the early months of life and the risks involved in inappropriate feeding practices, including the unnecessary and improper use of breastmilk substitutes, the marketing of breastmilk substitutes requires special treatment, which makes usual marketing practices unsuitable for these products;
THEREFORE:
The Member States hereby agree the following articles which are recommended as a basis for action.
Article 1. Aim of the Code
The aim of this Code is to contribute to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants, by the protection and promotion of breastfeeding, and by ensuring the proper use of breastmilk substitutes, when these are necessary, on the basis of adequate information and through appropriate marketing and distribution.
Article 2. Scope of the Code
The Code applies to the marketing, and practices related thereto, of the following products: breastmilk substitutes, including infant formula; other milk products, foods and beverages, including bottle-fed complementary foods, when marketed or otherwise represented to be suitable, with or without modification, for use as a partial or total replacement of breast-milk; feeding bottles and teats. It also applies to their quality and availability, and to information concerning their use.
Article 3. Definitions
For the purposes of this Code:
"Breastmilk substitute" means any food being marketed or otherwise represented as a partial or total replacement for breast milk, whether or not suitable for that purpose.
"Complementary food" means any food, whether manufactured or locally prepared, suitable as a complement to breast milk or to infant formula, when either becomes insufficient to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the infant. Such food is also commonly called "weaning food" or "breastmilk supplement".
"Container" means any form of packaging of products for sale as a normal retail unit, including wrappers.
"Distributor" means a person, corporation or any other entity in the public or private sector engaged in the business (whether directly or indirectly) of marketing at the wholesale or retail level a product within the scope of this Code. A "primary distributor" is a manufacturer's sales agent, representative, national distributor or broker.
"Health care system" means governmental, nongovernmental or private institutions or organisations engaged, directly or indirectly, in health care for mothers, infants and pregnant women; and nurseries or childcare institutions. It also includes health workers in private practice. For the purposes of this Code, the health care system does not include pharmacies or other established sales outlets.
"Health worker" means a person working in a component of such a health care system, whether professional or nonprofessional, including voluntary, unpaid workers.
"Infant formula" means a breastmilk substitute formulated industrially in accordance with applicable Codex Alimentarius standards, to satisfy the normal nutritional requirements of infants up to between four and six months of age, and adapted to their physiological characteristics. Infant formula may also be prepared at home, in which case it is described as "home prepared".
"Label" means any tag, brand, mark, pictorial or other descriptive matter, written, printed, stencilled, marked, embossed or impressed on, or attached to, a container (see above) of any products within the scope of this Code.
"Manufacturer" means a corporation or other entity in the public or private sector engaged in the business or function (whether directly or through an agent or through an entity controlled by or under contract with it) of manufacturing a product within the scope of this Code.
"Marketing" means product promotion, distribution, selling, advertising, product public relations, and information services.
"Marketing personnel" means any persons whose functions involve the marketing of a product or products coming within the scope of this Code.
"Samples" means single or small quantities of a product provided without cost.
"Supplies" means quantities of a product provided for use over an extended period, free or at a low price, for social purposes, including those provided to families in need.
Article 4. Information and education
4.1 Governments should have the responsibility to ensure that objective and consistent information is provided on infant and young child feeding for use by families and those involved in the field of infant and young child nutrition. This responsibility should cover either the planning, provision, design and dissemination of information, or their control.
4.2 Informational and educational materials, whether written, audio, or visual, dealing with the feeding of infants and intended to reach pregnant women and mothers of infants and young children, should include clear information on all the following points:
the benefits and superiority of breastfeeding;
maternal nutrition, and the preparation for and maintenance of breastfeeding;
the negative effect on breastfeeding of introducing partial bottle feeding;
the difficulty of reversing the decision not to breastfeed; and
where needed, the proper use of infant formula, whether manufactured industrially or home prepared.
When such materials contain information about the use of infant formula, they should include the social and financial implications of its use; the health hazards of inappropriate foods or feeding methods; and, in particular, the health hazards of unnecessary or improper use of infant formula and other breastmilk substitutes. Such materials should not use any pictures or text which may idealise the use of breastmilk substitutes.
4.3 Donations of informational or educational equipment or materials by manufacturers or distributors should be made only at the request and with the written approval of the appropriate government authority or within guidelines given by governments for this purpose. Such equipment or materials may bear the donating company's name or logo, but should not refer to a proprietary product that is within the scope of this Code, and should be distributed only through the health care system.
Article 5. The general public and mothers
5.1 There should be no advertising or other form of promotion to the general public of products within the scope of this Code.
5.2 Manufacturers and distributors should not provide, directly or indirectly, to pregnant women, mothers or members of their families, samples of products within the scope of this Code.
5.3 In conformity with paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, there should be no point-of-sale advertising, giving of samples, or any other promotion device to induce sales directly to the consumer at the retail level, such as special displays, discount coupons, premiums, special sales, loss leaders and tie-in sales, for products within the scope of this Code. This provision should not restrict the establishment of pricing policies and practices intended to provide products at lower prices on a long-term basis.
5.4 Manufacturers and distributors should not distribute to pregnant women or mothers of infants and young children any gifts of articles or utensils which may promote the use of breastmilk substitutes or bottle feeding.
5.5 Marketing personnel, in their business capacity, should not seek direct or indirect contact of any kind with pregnant women or with mothers of infants and young children.
Article 6. Health care systems
6.1 The health authorities in Member States should take appropriate measures to encourage and protect breastfeeding and promote the principles of this Code, and should give appropriate information and advice to health workers in regard to their responsibilities, including the information specified in Article 4.2.
6.2 No facility of a health care system should be used for the purpose of promoting infant formula or other products within the scope of this Code. This Code does not, however, preclude the dissemination of information to health professionals as provided in Article 7.2.
6.3 Facilities of health care systems should not be used for the display of products within the scope of this Code, for placards or posters concerning such products, or for the distribution of material provided by a manufacturer or distributor other than that specified in Article 4.
6.4 The use by the health care system of "professional service representatives", "mothercraft nurses" or similar personnel, provided or paid for by manufacturers or distributors, should not be permitted.
6.5 Feeding with infant formula, whether manufactured or home prepared, should be demonstrated only by health workers, or other community workers if necessary; and only to the mothers or family members who need to use it; and the information given should include a clear explanation of the hazards of improper use.
6.6 Donations or low-price sales to institutions or organisations of supplies of infant formula or other products within the scope of this Code, whether for use in the institutions or for distribution outside them, may be made. Such supplies should only be used or distributed for infants who have to be fed on breastmilk substitutes. If these supplies are distributed for use outside the institutions, this should be done only by the institutions or organisations concerned. Such donations or low-price sales should not be used by manufacturers or distributors as a sales inducement.
6.7 Where donated supplies of infant formula or other products within the scope of this Code are distributed outside an institution, the institution or organisation should take steps to ensure that supplies can be continued as long as the infants concerned need them. Donors, as well as institutions or organisations concerned, should bear in mind this responsibility.
6.8 Equipment and materials, in addition to those referred to in Article 4.3, donated to a health care system may bear a company's name or logo, but should not refer to any proprietary product within the scope of this Code.
Article 7. Health workers
7.1 Health workers should encourage and protect breastfeeding; and those who are concerned in particular with maternal and infant nutrition should make themselves familiar with their responsibilities under this Code, including the information specified in Article 4.2.
7.2 Information provided by manufacturers and distributors to health professionals regarding products within the scope of this Code should be restricted to scientific and factual matters, and such information should not imply or create a belief that bottle feeding is equivalent or superior to breastfeeding. It should also include the information specified in Article 4.2.
7.3 No financial or material inducements to promote products within the scope of this Code should be offered by manufacturers or distributors to health workers or members of their families, nor should these be accepted by health workers or members of their families.
7.4 Samples of infant formula or other products within the scope of this Code., or of equipment or utensils for their preparation or use, should not be provided to health workers except when necessary for the purpose of professional evaluation or research at the institutional level. Health workers should not give samples of infant formula to pregnant women, mothers of infants and young children, or members of their families.
7.5 Manufacturers and distributors of products within the scope of this Code should disclose to the institution to which a recipient health worker is affiliated any contribution made to him or on his behalf for fellowships, study tours, research grants, attendance at professional conferences, or the like. Similar disclosures should be made by the recipient.
Article 8. Persons employed by manufacturers and distributors
8.1 In systems of sales incentives for marketing personnel, the volume of sales of products within the scope of this Code should not be included in the calculation of bonuses, nor should quotas be set specifically for sales of these products. This should not be understood to prevent the payment of bonuses based on the overall sales by a company of other products marketed by it.
8.2 Personnel employed in marketing products within the scope of this Code should not, as part of their job responsibilities, perform educational functions in relation to pregnant women or mothers of infants and young children. This should not be understood as preventing such personnel from being used for other functions by the health care system at the request and with the written approval of the appropriate authority of the government concerned.
Article 9. Labelling
9.1 Labels should be designed to provide the necessary information about the appropriate use of the product, and so as not to discourage breastfeeding.
9.2 Manufacturers and distributors of infant formula should ensure that each container has a clear, conspicuous, and easily readable and understandable message printed on it, or on a label which cannot readily become separated from it, in an appropriate language, which includes all the following points:
the words "Important Notice" or their equivalent;
a statement of the superiority of breastfeeding;
a statement that the product should be used only on the advice of a health worker as to the need for its use and the proper method of use;
instructions for appropriate preparation, and a warning against the health hazards of inappropriate preparation.
Neither the container nor the label should have pictures of infants, nor should they have other pictures or text which may idealise the use of infant formula. They may, however, have graphics for easy identification of the product as a breastmilk substitute and for illustrating methods of preparation. The terms "humanised", "maternalised" or similar terms should not be used. Inserts giving additional information about the product and its proper use, subject to the above conditions, may be included in the package or retail unit. When labels give instructions for modifying a product into infant formula, the above should apply.
9.3 Food products within the scope of this Code, marketed for infant feeding, which do not meet all the requirements of an infant formula, but which can be modified to do so, Should carry on the label a warning that the unmodified product should not be the sole source of nourishment of an infant. Since sweetened condensed milk is not Suitable for infant feeding, nor for use as a main ingredient of infant formula, its label should not contain purported instructions on how to modify it for that purpose.
9.4 The label of food products within the scope of this Code should also state all the following points:
the ingredients used;
the composition/analysis of the product;
the storage conditions required; and
the batch number and the date before which the product is to be consumed, taking into account the climatic and storage conditions of the country concerned.
Article 10. Quality
10.1 The quality of products is an essential element for the protection of the health of infants and therefore should be of a high recognised standard.
10.2 Food products within the scope of this Code should, when sold or otherwise distributed, meet applicable standards recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and also the Codex Code of Hygienic Practice for Foods for Infants and Children.
Article 11. Implementation and monitoring
11.1 Governments should take action to give effect to the principles and aim of this Code, as appropriate to their social and legislative framework, including the adoption of national legislation, regulations or other suitable measures. For this purpose, governments should seek, when necessary, the cooperation of WHO, UNICEF and other agencies of the United Nations system. National policies and measures, including laws and regulations, which are adopted to give effect to the principles and aim of this Code should be publicly stated, and should apply on the same basis to all those involved in the manufacture and marketing of products within the scope of this Code.
11.2 Monitoring the application of this Code lies with governments acting individually, and collectively through the World Health Organisation as provided in paragraphs 6 and 7 of this Article. The manufacturers and distributors of products within the scope of this Code, and appropriate nongovernmental organisations, professional groups, and consumer organisations should collaborate with governments to this end.
11.3 Independently of any other measures taken for implementation of this Code, manufacturers and distributors of products within the scope of this Code should regard themselves as responsible for monitoring their marketing practices according to the principles and aim of this Code, and for taking steps to ensure that their conduct at every level conforms to them.
11.4 Nongovernmental organisations, professional groups, institutions, and individuals concerned should have the responsibility of drawing the attention of manufacturers or distributors to activities which are incompatible with the principles and aim of this Code, so that appropriate action can be taken. The appropriate governmental authority should also be informed.
11.5 Manufacturers and primary distributors of products within the scope of this Code should apprise each member of their marketing personnel of the Code and of their responsibilities under it.
11.6 In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of the World Health Organisation, Member States shall communicate annually to the Director General information on action taken to give effect to the principles and aim of this Code.
11.7 The Director General shall report in even years to the World Health Assembly on the status of implementation of the Code; and shall, on request, provide technical support to Member States preparing national legislation or regulations, or taking other appropriate measures in implementation and furtherance of the principles and aim of this Code.
This is from: http://www.babymilkaction.org/regs/fullcode.html
The Member States of the World Health Organisation:
Affirming the right of every child and every pregnant and lactating woman to be adequately nourished as a means of attaining and maintaining health;
Recognising that infant malnutrition is part of the wider problems of lack of education, poverty, and social injustice;
Recognising that the health of infants and young children cannot be isolated from the health and nutrition of women, their socio-economic status and their roles as mothers;
Conscious that breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; that it forms a unique biological and emotional basis for the health of both mother and child; that the anti-infective properties of breast milk help to protect infants against disease; and that there is an important relationship between breastfeeding and child spacing;
Recognising that the encouragement and protection of breastfeeding is an important part of the health, nutrition and other social measures required to promote healthy growth and development of infants and young children; and that breastfeeding is an important aspect of primary health care;
Considering that when mothers do not breastfeed, or only do so partially, there is a legitimate market for infant formula and for suitable ingredients from which to prepare it; that all these products should accordingly be made accessible to those who need them through commercial or noncommercial distribution systems; and that they should not be marketed or distributed in ways that may interfere with the protection and promotion of breastfeeding;
Recognising further that inappropriate feeding practices lead to infant malnutrition, morbidity and mortality in all countries, and that improper practices in the marketing of breastmilk substitutes and related products can contribute to these major public health problems;
Convinced that it is important for infants to receive appropriate complementary foods, usually when the infant reaches four to six months of age, and that every effort should be made to use locally available foods; and convinced, nevertheless, that such complementary foods should not be used as breastmilk substitutes;
Appreciating that there are a number of social and economic factors affecting breastfeeding, and that, accordingly, governments should develop social support systems to protect, facilitate and encourage it, and that they should create an environment that fosters breastfeeding, provides appropriate family and community support, and protects mothers from factors that inhibit breastfeeding;
Affirming that health care systems, and the health professionals and other health workers serving in them, have an essential role to play in guiding infant feeding practices, encouraging and facilitating breastfeeding, and providing objective and consistent advice to mothers and families about the superior value of breastfeeding, or, where needed, on the proper use of infant formula, whether manufactured industrially or home prepared;
Affirming further that educational systems and other social services should be involved in the protection and promotion of breastfeeding, and in the appropriate use of complementary foods;
Aware that families, communities, women's organisations and other nongovernmental organisations have a special role to play in the protection and promotion of breastfeeding and in ensuring the support needed by pregnant women and mothers of infants and young children, whether breastfeeding or not;
Affirming the need for governments, organisations of the United Nations system, nongovernmental organisations, experts in various related disciplines, consumer groups and industry to cooperate in activities aimed at the improvement of maternal, infant and young child health and nutrition;
Recognising that governments should undertake a variety of health, nutrition and other social measures to promote healthy growth and development of infants and young children, and that this Code concerns only one aspect of these measures;
Considering that manufacturers and distributors of breastmilk substitutes have an important and constructive role to play in relation to infant feeding, and in the promotion of the aim of this Code and its proper implementation;
Affirming that governments are called upon to take action appropriate to their social and legislative framework and their overall development objectives to give effect to the principles and aim of this Code, including the enactment of legislation, regulations or other suitable measures;
Believing that, in the light of the foregoing considerations, and in view of the vulnerability of infants in the early months of life and the risks involved in inappropriate feeding practices, including the unnecessary and improper use of breastmilk substitutes, the marketing of breastmilk substitutes requires special treatment, which makes usual marketing practices unsuitable for these products;
THEREFORE:
The Member States hereby agree the following articles which are recommended as a basis for action.
Article 1. Aim of the Code
The aim of this Code is to contribute to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants, by the protection and promotion of breastfeeding, and by ensuring the proper use of breastmilk substitutes, when these are necessary, on the basis of adequate information and through appropriate marketing and distribution.
Article 2. Scope of the Code
The Code applies to the marketing, and practices related thereto, of the following products: breastmilk substitutes, including infant formula; other milk products, foods and beverages, including bottle-fed complementary foods, when marketed or otherwise represented to be suitable, with or without modification, for use as a partial or total replacement of breast-milk; feeding bottles and teats. It also applies to their quality and availability, and to information concerning their use.
Article 3. Definitions
For the purposes of this Code:
"Breastmilk substitute" means any food being marketed or otherwise represented as a partial or total replacement for breast milk, whether or not suitable for that purpose.
"Complementary food" means any food, whether manufactured or locally prepared, suitable as a complement to breast milk or to infant formula, when either becomes insufficient to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the infant. Such food is also commonly called "weaning food" or "breastmilk supplement".
"Container" means any form of packaging of products for sale as a normal retail unit, including wrappers.
"Distributor" means a person, corporation or any other entity in the public or private sector engaged in the business (whether directly or indirectly) of marketing at the wholesale or retail level a product within the scope of this Code. A "primary distributor" is a manufacturer's sales agent, representative, national distributor or broker.
"Health care system" means governmental, nongovernmental or private institutions or organisations engaged, directly or indirectly, in health care for mothers, infants and pregnant women; and nurseries or childcare institutions. It also includes health workers in private practice. For the purposes of this Code, the health care system does not include pharmacies or other established sales outlets.
"Health worker" means a person working in a component of such a health care system, whether professional or nonprofessional, including voluntary, unpaid workers.
"Infant formula" means a breastmilk substitute formulated industrially in accordance with applicable Codex Alimentarius standards, to satisfy the normal nutritional requirements of infants up to between four and six months of age, and adapted to their physiological characteristics. Infant formula may also be prepared at home, in which case it is described as "home prepared".
"Label" means any tag, brand, mark, pictorial or other descriptive matter, written, printed, stencilled, marked, embossed or impressed on, or attached to, a container (see above) of any products within the scope of this Code.
"Manufacturer" means a corporation or other entity in the public or private sector engaged in the business or function (whether directly or through an agent or through an entity controlled by or under contract with it) of manufacturing a product within the scope of this Code.
"Marketing" means product promotion, distribution, selling, advertising, product public relations, and information services.
"Marketing personnel" means any persons whose functions involve the marketing of a product or products coming within the scope of this Code.
"Samples" means single or small quantities of a product provided without cost.
"Supplies" means quantities of a product provided for use over an extended period, free or at a low price, for social purposes, including those provided to families in need.
Article 4. Information and education
4.1 Governments should have the responsibility to ensure that objective and consistent information is provided on infant and young child feeding for use by families and those involved in the field of infant and young child nutrition. This responsibility should cover either the planning, provision, design and dissemination of information, or their control.
4.2 Informational and educational materials, whether written, audio, or visual, dealing with the feeding of infants and intended to reach pregnant women and mothers of infants and young children, should include clear information on all the following points:
the benefits and superiority of breastfeeding;
maternal nutrition, and the preparation for and maintenance of breastfeeding;
the negative effect on breastfeeding of introducing partial bottle feeding;
the difficulty of reversing the decision not to breastfeed; and
where needed, the proper use of infant formula, whether manufactured industrially or home prepared.
When such materials contain information about the use of infant formula, they should include the social and financial implications of its use; the health hazards of inappropriate foods or feeding methods; and, in particular, the health hazards of unnecessary or improper use of infant formula and other breastmilk substitutes. Such materials should not use any pictures or text which may idealise the use of breastmilk substitutes.
4.3 Donations of informational or educational equipment or materials by manufacturers or distributors should be made only at the request and with the written approval of the appropriate government authority or within guidelines given by governments for this purpose. Such equipment or materials may bear the donating company's name or logo, but should not refer to a proprietary product that is within the scope of this Code, and should be distributed only through the health care system.
Article 5. The general public and mothers
5.1 There should be no advertising or other form of promotion to the general public of products within the scope of this Code.
5.2 Manufacturers and distributors should not provide, directly or indirectly, to pregnant women, mothers or members of their families, samples of products within the scope of this Code.
5.3 In conformity with paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, there should be no point-of-sale advertising, giving of samples, or any other promotion device to induce sales directly to the consumer at the retail level, such as special displays, discount coupons, premiums, special sales, loss leaders and tie-in sales, for products within the scope of this Code. This provision should not restrict the establishment of pricing policies and practices intended to provide products at lower prices on a long-term basis.
5.4 Manufacturers and distributors should not distribute to pregnant women or mothers of infants and young children any gifts of articles or utensils which may promote the use of breastmilk substitutes or bottle feeding.
5.5 Marketing personnel, in their business capacity, should not seek direct or indirect contact of any kind with pregnant women or with mothers of infants and young children.
Article 6. Health care systems
6.1 The health authorities in Member States should take appropriate measures to encourage and protect breastfeeding and promote the principles of this Code, and should give appropriate information and advice to health workers in regard to their responsibilities, including the information specified in Article 4.2.
6.2 No facility of a health care system should be used for the purpose of promoting infant formula or other products within the scope of this Code. This Code does not, however, preclude the dissemination of information to health professionals as provided in Article 7.2.
6.3 Facilities of health care systems should not be used for the display of products within the scope of this Code, for placards or posters concerning such products, or for the distribution of material provided by a manufacturer or distributor other than that specified in Article 4.
6.4 The use by the health care system of "professional service representatives", "mothercraft nurses" or similar personnel, provided or paid for by manufacturers or distributors, should not be permitted.
6.5 Feeding with infant formula, whether manufactured or home prepared, should be demonstrated only by health workers, or other community workers if necessary; and only to the mothers or family members who need to use it; and the information given should include a clear explanation of the hazards of improper use.
6.6 Donations or low-price sales to institutions or organisations of supplies of infant formula or other products within the scope of this Code, whether for use in the institutions or for distribution outside them, may be made. Such supplies should only be used or distributed for infants who have to be fed on breastmilk substitutes. If these supplies are distributed for use outside the institutions, this should be done only by the institutions or organisations concerned. Such donations or low-price sales should not be used by manufacturers or distributors as a sales inducement.
6.7 Where donated supplies of infant formula or other products within the scope of this Code are distributed outside an institution, the institution or organisation should take steps to ensure that supplies can be continued as long as the infants concerned need them. Donors, as well as institutions or organisations concerned, should bear in mind this responsibility.
6.8 Equipment and materials, in addition to those referred to in Article 4.3, donated to a health care system may bear a company's name or logo, but should not refer to any proprietary product within the scope of this Code.
Article 7. Health workers
7.1 Health workers should encourage and protect breastfeeding; and those who are concerned in particular with maternal and infant nutrition should make themselves familiar with their responsibilities under this Code, including the information specified in Article 4.2.
7.2 Information provided by manufacturers and distributors to health professionals regarding products within the scope of this Code should be restricted to scientific and factual matters, and such information should not imply or create a belief that bottle feeding is equivalent or superior to breastfeeding. It should also include the information specified in Article 4.2.
7.3 No financial or material inducements to promote products within the scope of this Code should be offered by manufacturers or distributors to health workers or members of their families, nor should these be accepted by health workers or members of their families.
7.4 Samples of infant formula or other products within the scope of this Code., or of equipment or utensils for their preparation or use, should not be provided to health workers except when necessary for the purpose of professional evaluation or research at the institutional level. Health workers should not give samples of infant formula to pregnant women, mothers of infants and young children, or members of their families.
7.5 Manufacturers and distributors of products within the scope of this Code should disclose to the institution to which a recipient health worker is affiliated any contribution made to him or on his behalf for fellowships, study tours, research grants, attendance at professional conferences, or the like. Similar disclosures should be made by the recipient.
Article 8. Persons employed by manufacturers and distributors
8.1 In systems of sales incentives for marketing personnel, the volume of sales of products within the scope of this Code should not be included in the calculation of bonuses, nor should quotas be set specifically for sales of these products. This should not be understood to prevent the payment of bonuses based on the overall sales by a company of other products marketed by it.
8.2 Personnel employed in marketing products within the scope of this Code should not, as part of their job responsibilities, perform educational functions in relation to pregnant women or mothers of infants and young children. This should not be understood as preventing such personnel from being used for other functions by the health care system at the request and with the written approval of the appropriate authority of the government concerned.
Article 9. Labelling
9.1 Labels should be designed to provide the necessary information about the appropriate use of the product, and so as not to discourage breastfeeding.
9.2 Manufacturers and distributors of infant formula should ensure that each container has a clear, conspicuous, and easily readable and understandable message printed on it, or on a label which cannot readily become separated from it, in an appropriate language, which includes all the following points:
the words "Important Notice" or their equivalent;
a statement of the superiority of breastfeeding;
a statement that the product should be used only on the advice of a health worker as to the need for its use and the proper method of use;
instructions for appropriate preparation, and a warning against the health hazards of inappropriate preparation.
Neither the container nor the label should have pictures of infants, nor should they have other pictures or text which may idealise the use of infant formula. They may, however, have graphics for easy identification of the product as a breastmilk substitute and for illustrating methods of preparation. The terms "humanised", "maternalised" or similar terms should not be used. Inserts giving additional information about the product and its proper use, subject to the above conditions, may be included in the package or retail unit. When labels give instructions for modifying a product into infant formula, the above should apply.
9.3 Food products within the scope of this Code, marketed for infant feeding, which do not meet all the requirements of an infant formula, but which can be modified to do so, Should carry on the label a warning that the unmodified product should not be the sole source of nourishment of an infant. Since sweetened condensed milk is not Suitable for infant feeding, nor for use as a main ingredient of infant formula, its label should not contain purported instructions on how to modify it for that purpose.
9.4 The label of food products within the scope of this Code should also state all the following points:
the ingredients used;
the composition/analysis of the product;
the storage conditions required; and
the batch number and the date before which the product is to be consumed, taking into account the climatic and storage conditions of the country concerned.
Article 10. Quality
10.1 The quality of products is an essential element for the protection of the health of infants and therefore should be of a high recognised standard.
10.2 Food products within the scope of this Code should, when sold or otherwise distributed, meet applicable standards recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and also the Codex Code of Hygienic Practice for Foods for Infants and Children.
Article 11. Implementation and monitoring
11.1 Governments should take action to give effect to the principles and aim of this Code, as appropriate to their social and legislative framework, including the adoption of national legislation, regulations or other suitable measures. For this purpose, governments should seek, when necessary, the cooperation of WHO, UNICEF and other agencies of the United Nations system. National policies and measures, including laws and regulations, which are adopted to give effect to the principles and aim of this Code should be publicly stated, and should apply on the same basis to all those involved in the manufacture and marketing of products within the scope of this Code.
11.2 Monitoring the application of this Code lies with governments acting individually, and collectively through the World Health Organisation as provided in paragraphs 6 and 7 of this Article. The manufacturers and distributors of products within the scope of this Code, and appropriate nongovernmental organisations, professional groups, and consumer organisations should collaborate with governments to this end.
11.3 Independently of any other measures taken for implementation of this Code, manufacturers and distributors of products within the scope of this Code should regard themselves as responsible for monitoring their marketing practices according to the principles and aim of this Code, and for taking steps to ensure that their conduct at every level conforms to them.
11.4 Nongovernmental organisations, professional groups, institutions, and individuals concerned should have the responsibility of drawing the attention of manufacturers or distributors to activities which are incompatible with the principles and aim of this Code, so that appropriate action can be taken. The appropriate governmental authority should also be informed.
11.5 Manufacturers and primary distributors of products within the scope of this Code should apprise each member of their marketing personnel of the Code and of their responsibilities under it.
11.6 In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of the World Health Organisation, Member States shall communicate annually to the Director General information on action taken to give effect to the principles and aim of this Code.
11.7 The Director General shall report in even years to the World Health Assembly on the status of implementation of the Code; and shall, on request, provide technical support to Member States preparing national legislation or regulations, or taking other appropriate measures in implementation and furtherance of the principles and aim of this Code.
This is from: http://www.babymilkaction.org/regs/fullcode.html
Ban the Bags
I found this page making fun of the formula bags, which they give out at hospitals when a new baby is born. My "breastfeeding" bag I got when Claire was born, was full of formula tube samples, which is a direct violation of the WHO marketing code of course...tell me what you think?
Healthy Heart and Lungs Success gift packs will be handed out on the cardiac and respiratory floors. The lovely red bags will be emblazoned with the logo M---oro and contain Nic----te gum to help smokers stop, free samples of cigarettes, literature from Phi---p M---is on how to stop smoking, coupons for bacon, cigarettes, fast food plus a card to join the cigarette company "Healthy Heart Club." When post-heart attack patients join the club they will receive a monthly newsletter with stories and articles about quitting smoking, exercise and living a healthier life as well as free and cents off coupons for tobacco products.Initially the bag was to be given to those who had decided that they would prefer to continue smoking for whatever reason, however there was some concern that those who had chosen to quit smoking would be unhappy at not receiving the gift pack. A decision was made to give the packs to all patients. If patients don't want the sample packs they can throw them out or donate them to a poor person who chooses to smoke and use the bag to carry their medications and oxygen tubing. Hospital personnel were instructed to present equal, balanced information on the advantages and disadvantages of breathing clean air vs. smoking. One health care provider stated,"We support breathing clean air, but not smoking is hard and not everyone can or wants to do it, I wouldn't want to make them feel guilty for choosing to smoke. Another health care provider stated, "I don't know how to help patients stop smoking, besides, I choose to smoke and I am fine."There are a number of reasons a cardiac or respiratory patient might want to smoke:"Smoking is a convenient way to cope with the stress of illness.""When I go to the bar, I might be embarrassed to not smoke""My dad and brothers couldn't quit so I am sure that I won't be able to quit smoking either""The last time I tried to quit I was so uncomfortable that I switched to smoking after 3 days""I only want to be smoke free for the six weeks I am recuperating, since I want to smoke when I go back to work.""I plan on combining smoking and breathing clean air""If smoking were that dangerous, they wouldn't have sent these samples home with me""The doctor said that my air was contaminated, so he said smoking was better.If you are trying to quit smoking and would like a free sample bag please sign below or visit our website at ww.conflict-of-interest.com Tongue planted very firmly in cheek. ;-PTess Parriott RN, IBCLC
from this site: http://www.geocities.com/heartlandalliance/satire.html
Healthy Heart and Lungs Success gift packs will be handed out on the cardiac and respiratory floors. The lovely red bags will be emblazoned with the logo M---oro and contain Nic----te gum to help smokers stop, free samples of cigarettes, literature from Phi---p M---is on how to stop smoking, coupons for bacon, cigarettes, fast food plus a card to join the cigarette company "Healthy Heart Club." When post-heart attack patients join the club they will receive a monthly newsletter with stories and articles about quitting smoking, exercise and living a healthier life as well as free and cents off coupons for tobacco products.Initially the bag was to be given to those who had decided that they would prefer to continue smoking for whatever reason, however there was some concern that those who had chosen to quit smoking would be unhappy at not receiving the gift pack. A decision was made to give the packs to all patients. If patients don't want the sample packs they can throw them out or donate them to a poor person who chooses to smoke and use the bag to carry their medications and oxygen tubing. Hospital personnel were instructed to present equal, balanced information on the advantages and disadvantages of breathing clean air vs. smoking. One health care provider stated,"We support breathing clean air, but not smoking is hard and not everyone can or wants to do it, I wouldn't want to make them feel guilty for choosing to smoke. Another health care provider stated, "I don't know how to help patients stop smoking, besides, I choose to smoke and I am fine."There are a number of reasons a cardiac or respiratory patient might want to smoke:"Smoking is a convenient way to cope with the stress of illness.""When I go to the bar, I might be embarrassed to not smoke""My dad and brothers couldn't quit so I am sure that I won't be able to quit smoking either""The last time I tried to quit I was so uncomfortable that I switched to smoking after 3 days""I only want to be smoke free for the six weeks I am recuperating, since I want to smoke when I go back to work.""I plan on combining smoking and breathing clean air""If smoking were that dangerous, they wouldn't have sent these samples home with me""The doctor said that my air was contaminated, so he said smoking was better.If you are trying to quit smoking and would like a free sample bag please sign below or visit our website at ww.conflict-of-interest.com Tongue planted very firmly in cheek. ;-PTess Parriott RN, IBCLC
from this site: http://www.geocities.com/heartlandalliance/satire.html
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Breastfeeding Challenge 2008
Interested in supporting breastfeeding women?
What? Join us for the Breastfeeding Challenge 2008!
When? The Challenge takes place on Saturday, October 11th, 2008, with "latch on" occurring at 11am. (arrive at 10:30 to get settled in/sign media release)
Where? Starbucks at 96th and Allisonville.
Why? Last year, there were 230 sites with over 5,383 babies. It's easy; it's FREE and it makes a point -- Breastfeeding and donor milk banking is important! We are calling all women in WORLD to support this effort! Register a site or just pass the message onto a friend who might be interested. Go to www.babyfriendly.ca for more information. Be counted in! Remember--WHO (the World Health Organization) recommends breastfeeding until a minimum of age 2, or as long as is mutually desirable.
***The event is a non-profit, health promotion/event to raise awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding in the community and in the global media. It is an excellent chance for mothers to meet other mothers and local professionals.
If you're not a breastfeeding mom, pass this info onto someone who may be interested. If you're not in the Indy area, just go to the site to check for a location in your area or register one.
What? Join us for the Breastfeeding Challenge 2008!
When? The Challenge takes place on Saturday, October 11th, 2008, with "latch on" occurring at 11am. (arrive at 10:30 to get settled in/sign media release)
Where? Starbucks at 96th and Allisonville.
Why? Last year, there were 230 sites with over 5,383 babies. It's easy; it's FREE and it makes a point -- Breastfeeding and donor milk banking is important! We are calling all women in WORLD to support this effort! Register a site or just pass the message onto a friend who might be interested. Go to www.babyfriendly.ca for more information. Be counted in! Remember--WHO (the World Health Organization) recommends breastfeeding until a minimum of age 2, or as long as is mutually desirable.
***The event is a non-profit, health promotion/event to raise awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding in the community and in the global media. It is an excellent chance for mothers to meet other mothers and local professionals.
If you're not a breastfeeding mom, pass this info onto someone who may be interested. If you're not in the Indy area, just go to the site to check for a location in your area or register one.
Bad Hair Day
Check it out: She has enough hair to see. YAY! It's just really blond and very fine.
Here she is doing something goofy with her tongue. She loves to go on walks. She will go over to her stroller, pat it and say, "ALK!" I think she's trying to say walk, of course. She has some other "words" that I can recognize, but I'm not sure if others do, like "Dtop" for drop when she wants me to pick up something for her. I hate that game. Hate it. I do like this perfect fall weather for walking. I like putting her in the infant seat in the stroller still, as you can see she's too big for it in the car, but I like it for walks so I can see her face. :)
Here she is doing something goofy with her tongue. She loves to go on walks. She will go over to her stroller, pat it and say, "ALK!" I think she's trying to say walk, of course. She has some other "words" that I can recognize, but I'm not sure if others do, like "Dtop" for drop when she wants me to pick up something for her. I hate that game. Hate it. I do like this perfect fall weather for walking. I like putting her in the infant seat in the stroller still, as you can see she's too big for it in the car, but I like it for walks so I can see her face. :)
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Riley Days with Richie
Now that Claire is bigger I dig her Baby Bjorn. I love it for crowds because strollers are hard to push through crowds and over hoses, etc. that run around fests like these. Here we are on the corner of State Road 9 and Hwy 40 in downtown Greenfield.
The bright light hurts my eyes. OUCH. I try to take my shades off for some pictures, but my eyes can't handle it. Notice Claire's hat shading her eyes? Boo to cataracts. She also had some sunglasses with but she kept ripping them off despite the Velcro band. :( Argh. I need to staple-gun it to her head. That'll keep them on.
The bright light hurts my eyes. OUCH. I try to take my shades off for some pictures, but my eyes can't handle it. Notice Claire's hat shading her eyes? Boo to cataracts. She also had some sunglasses with but she kept ripping them off despite the Velcro band. :( Argh. I need to staple-gun it to her head. That'll keep them on.
Here is my brother Richie. He makes me feel short. I love it. :) I also love Claire's face in this picture. She is making her monkey noise. She quacks, moos, and hoots like a monkey. Do monkeys hoot? Or is that owls...
So we saw the parade at 11 am. They throw gobs of candy in this parade. And I swear the kids these days are so lazy they don't even pick it all up. But why would you want a tootsie roll if you've already had something like the awesomeness of a deep-fried Snickers. Richie shared his ice cream with Claire. She loved it. Josh, carnivore, that he is, enjoyed eating meat-on-a-stick from this Asian place.
We enjoyed our visit with Rich. Then he headed back up to Purdue for a football game. Go Boilermakers.
Deaths always come in 3s
So have you heard that deaths always come in 3s? Well I think this is true. Do you remember the fall of 1997? First Princess Diana died. Then Mother Teresa died. Then Chris Farley died. Three famous people. 3. Weird huh?
This past week I found out that Claire's story time teacher at the library lost her 19-year-old daughter. I can't even imagine losing Claire. Ever. http://www.erleweinmortuary.com/online-obituaries/people-obituaries/abby-j-bennett So sad. http://mydeathspace.com/smf/index.php?topic=16492.0 That was one.
Then an elderly man from Church passed away http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/articles/2008/10/04/obituaries/obituaries99108.txt He was incredibly friendly and kind. He was frequently a greeter and would be seen hugging everyone. They even made a bulletin board for him which was really nice. That was two.
The most disturbing recent death, though all deaths are disturbing, was the death of Naomi. She was young. She was smart. She was pretty. She wasn't supposed to die. She just got a job teaching. http://www.rushvillerepublican.com/obituaries/local_story_210105310.html She was probably the most competent person that ever worked in the Auto Section of Wal-Mart. http://www.shelbynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=34&SubSectionID=102&ArticleID=56704&TM=65339.67 She will be really missed by everyone. This picture of her car is probably the most disturbing. http://www.rushvillerepublican.com/homepage/local_story_207204703.html?keyword=leadpicturestory Like how is that even her car??? I found out when I went to buy some cheese from her Dad at the Farmer's Market that they had by the Wellness Center the following Saturday. "Well, he's not here because his daughter sort of died." Um ok. "How do you sort of die?" I thought that, but knew that was someone not knowing how to explain it for probably the 42nd time that day. I had talked to her about teaching and special ed. Her mom was one of my nurses at the local hospital when Claire was born: 
Here is Claire and some cows in April 2008 at her dad's dairy farm on the Hancock Co. Farm Tour:
She wasn't a super-close friend, or even someone I ever called, but it's strange how you learn about connections in small towns. I had just talked to her every time I went to Wal-Mart for an oil change while I was commuting for 3 years and she was always there when I showed up. I'd get an oil change about every 2 months. She'd remember my car make and model and what I wanted. And we'd chit-chat about teaching. Then I showed up with Claire, and she was like, so that's why you haven't been in here lately! :) Then I saw her selling cheese with her mom at the farm, and I put the 3 together. And she remembered my car when I came up for cheese. Now that's someone that's going to be missed there and everywhere. Crazy. And I went to get my oil changed recently, and I went to BIG O, just so I could avoid NOT not seeing her. Aren't I crazy? And that was three.
Everyone really does know everyone. And you are only 6 people away from knowing someone, etc. So RIP to these three.
And children aren't supposed to die before their parents. I was looking at the grocery store for a sympathy card for Claire's story time teacher. They had several for the death of mothers, fathers, and generic "loved ones." They had one. 1. for "Death of Child." Apparently the card makers couldn't even make one for loss of son and another for loss of daughter because kids aren't supposed to die. They aren't supposed to OD or get in a car wreck. So I'm going to Hallmark tomorrow in hopes of a more personalized card.
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