The Politics of Formula:
Not Just a “Third World
Issue”
by
Barbara Behrmann, Ph.D.
(c) 1996
Makers of formula are
known for their aggressive marketing and distribution practices, both
internationally and domestically. This has resulted in routine
bottle-feeding practices in health care facilities around the world. The
impact in developing countries has been especially devastating; according to
UNICEF, 1.5 million babies die each year.
Beginning in the early 1980s, global efforts have been underway to promote
breastfeeding. In 1981 the World Health Assembly adopted the International
Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. The Code contains 10
provisions which seek to restrict public advertising and promotion of
breastmilk substitutes; to eliminate the promotion of formula in health care
facilities and to health workers; and to ensure that advertising is factual
and ethical and does not glamorize artificial feeding. Out of 122
countries, the United States was the only voice of opposition, though
Clinton reversed the vote in 1994. Adoption is not the same as
implementation, however, and nothing in the U.S. has been done to implement
the Code’s provisions.
In 1991 UNICEF and the World Health
Organization spearheaded the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, a global
effort to encourage breast-feeding and remove breast-feeding barriers in
health care settings. To be declared “baby friendly” hospitals and birth
centers must implement Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. This includes
having a written breastfeeding policy; training health care staff to
implement the policy; allowing “rooming-in;” offering babies nothing except
breast milk; and helping mothers to breastfeed as soon as possible. Also in
1991 member companies of the International Association of Infant Food
Manufacturers agreed to stop distributing breast milk substitutes in
maternity wards and hospitals in developing countries, where such practices
are prohibited by governments. Compliance has been poor, however, with
frequent violations and innovative marketing techniques to get around the
provisions set forth in the Code. Not a single company can demonstrate full
compliance
In
the U.S. formula companies continue to aggressively promote their products
directly to pregnant and breast-feeding women. Many of these practices
target mothers at specific, predetermined difficult times of the
breast-feeding process - initiation and appetite (growth) spurts. The
majority of new mothers also leave hospitals with a discharge pack that
often contains formula samples, coupons, and bottles. Many breast-feeding
promotional materials are produced by the companies, and often contain
misleading or inaccurate information. All of this sabotages the
breast-feeding relationship.
Corporations also continue to sponsor and underwrite medical conferences;
provide funding and grants to medical institutions and personnel; and
provide medical professionals with expensive gifts.
For
more information on the politics of infant feeding, the following books
might interest you:
Milk, Money and Madness: The Culture and Politics of
Breastfeeding, by Naomi Baumslag, MD, MPH and Dia
Michels, Bergin and Garvey, 1995.
Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives,
edited by Patricia Stuart-Macadam and Katherine Dettwyler, Aldine De Gruyter,
1995.
The
Politics of Breastfeeding, by Gabrielle Palmer,
Pandora, 1993.
Back to Articles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Barbara L. Behrmann, Ph.D. is a writer, researcher, and author of
The
Breastfeeding Café: Mothers Share the Joys, Secrets & Challenges of Nursing,
University of Michigan Press, 2005. She is a frequent speaker around the
country and is available for talks, readings, and conducting birthing and
breastfeeding writing circles. The mother of two formerly breastfed
children, Barbara lives in upstate New York. |
