By Pieta Woolley
September 21, 2006
The Nestlé booth was abuzz with pregnant women and new parents at the Baby and Family Fair on September 16 and 17. The attraction was free Baby Einstein and Disney DVDs, free rice-cereal samples, free infant formula samples, and a send-away card for a free diaper bag, a baby-magazine subscription, and more formula. It was one of the juiciest giveaways at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre event.
Meanwhile, Douglas College's perinatal program manager, Kathleen Lindstrom, was trying to entice the thousands of orb-bellied women to come to her breast-feeding workshop.
“I said, 'Come find out how to save thousands of dollars a year and feed your baby free,'” Lindstrom recounted to the Georgia Straight. “But I couldn't tear them away from the formula booths. I felt like getting on the loudspeaker and saying, 'Do you not care about what's going into your baby?'”
Lindstrom said she was disgusted that at a trade show designed to “nurture the parent-child bond” she was forced to compete with formula companies. “There isn't close to the same amount of money to market breast-feeding as there is to market formula,” she said. “If there were, we wouldn't have a problem.”
That scene would be illegal had Canada implemented the World Health Organization's 1981 Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. The code, which prohibits the direct marketing of baby formula to families, marks its 25th anniversary this year. Breast milk beats formula, according to the WHO, because it promotes cognitive development and protects infants against infectious and chronic diseases, reducing infant mortality. In developing countries, this is especially important, as formula is relatively expensive and water is not necessarily safe.
Handing out formula samples is prohibited in Brazil, India, Bolivia, and Botswana, among other countries, according to Elisabeth Turkin, executive director of the pro-breast-feeding lobby group InFact Canada””and, she said, it should illegal be here, too. “We let companies bombard women from pregnancy with samples, book clubs, ads in parenting magazines,” Turkin told the Straight in a phone interview from Toronto. “Even doctors offer free samples. It's a huge interference on the part of the industry in competing with breast-feeding practices.”
Breast-feeding, which is promoted by Health Canada as the best nourishment for most infants, is still far from universal in this country. About 85 percent of today's mothers try to breast-feed, according to Statistics Canada's 2005 Health Reports. (However, one third of moms can't breast-feed for health reasons.)
But the report found that just 17 percent of women fed their babies exclusively with breast milk to six months, which the WHO recommends. Plus, just nine percent are still breast-feeding even occasionally at one year. Of the women who didn't breast-feed, the number-one response was that bottle feeding was “easier”, followed by statements that breast-feeding was “disgusting” or “unappealing”. Also, the less a family earns, the less likely a mother is to breast-feed.
Along with Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories' Similac and Mead Johnson Nutritionals' Enfamil were at the recent baby fair. Playtex was also there, marketing bottles. None of the companies returned the Straight's calls or e-mails by deadline.
The show's producer, Tracey Anderson of Shake Productions, is familiar with both the popularity of the formula booths and the uproar they cause.
“We get hate mail,” Anderson told the Straight. “People come into our office at the show and tell us they're disgusted with us and that we're antibaby.”
Before each of the four annual shows, Anderson discussed with her two business partners whether to include the formula companies. So far, they've always been included. The organizers provide balance by also including the La Leche League, doulas, Douglas College's perinatal program, and breast-feeding seminars, she said. And the show's mission statement is to provide information, not act as a gatekeeper, Anderson pointed out.
“We try to remain neutral on everything,” she said.
The WHO isn't the only UN agency trying to prevent formula-marketing. UNICEF's Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative prohibits medical units from handing out free and low-cost samples of baby formula. Canada lags behind most industrialized countries, according to UNICEF, with just eight baby-friendly centres; seven are in Quebec, one in Ontario. The United States has 25; Turkey, 83; Mexico, 692; India, 1,250; and China, 6,312.
InFact spearheads the Canadian Nestlé boycott, which raises awareness about formula-marketing here and in developing countries. In the 1980s, the Nestlé boycott was InFact's only project; now, Turkin explained, it shares the nonprofit's time with National Breastfeeding Week, an annual conference, newsletters, and information campaigns.
“We work so closely with health care and the mothers' sector,” Turkin said. “The information doesn't go to younger people as it should.”
Lindstrom noted that good information about formula is essential, because, she said, moms who formula-feed in a baby's first few weeks generally are not still breast-feeding at six months.
Article courtesy of the Georgia Straight.
For more info on InFact's Nestle boycott, check out this .pdf.
Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Afghanistan: Life Saver
Young Woman Battles Nation’s Biggest Killer
Tales of suicide bombers and battles with Taliban insurgents continue to dominate the news from Afghanistan, but there remains a far more pervasive threat to human life in the troubled nation.
Afghanistan has the second-worst infant mortality rate in the world. One in six newborns die before their first birthday, and 6 out of every 100 mothers die during childbirth. Cultural constraints mean it is rare for male doctors to assist women giving birth and there are few midwives, especially in rural areas.
But one young woman helping reverse the trend is Zahara Zamani.
While a refugee in Iran, Zahara, 22, says she dreamed of becoming a health professional.
“Sometimes I would see people with health problems, especially women,” she recalls. “I wanted to help.”
A Life-Changing Tragedy
Later, following her return to Afghanistan, she remembers one case that especially touched her — a pregnant neighbor suffering from anemia who went into labor. Her child died almost immediately. Meanwhile the mother experienced massive hemorrhaging and died the next day.
“She was at home with her family. They didn’t understand what was happening. They weren’t educated about anemia. They didn’t take her to the hospital,” Zahara says sadly.
The experience spurred her to complete a World Vision-supported midwife training program based in Herat, western Afghanistan.
Following graduation in 2005, she returned to Jibril, in the Herat Province, where she took a job with a health clinic that serves 40,000 people in the village and neighboring communities.
As a midwife in the town of Jibril, Zahara sees some 50 women
each day. Photo by Mary Kate MacIsaac.
It’s a busy job. Over 120 patients visit the clinic daily; about 50 of them are women seeking Zahara’s advice and expertise. Many travel several miles by foot or donkey to reach help.
Among those who are delighted Zahara has brought her newfound skills to Jibril is Dr. Abdul Wali Alami, director of the clinic.
He recalls the situation before Zahara began working there — women suffering childbirth complications seldom had the support they needed.
“They would cut the umbilical cord with a dirty knife. The women didn’t know about pre-natal or post-natal care. They had no information about it,” he says.
Today, Zahara spends much of her time counseling about pregnancy care, believing that education is the key to reversing Afghanistan’s dire maternal and infant mortality rates.
Since 2004, 82 midwives have graduated from the midwife training program and are at work throughout western Afghanistan. Another 60 students are now in training. It’s expected the midwives’ efforts to educate and assist women through their pregnancies will ultimately slash death rates.
Zahara has become a significant agent of change in the Afghanistan of tomorrow.
Article courtesy of World Vision International. Please visit to learn more.
You can also read about how a neonatal clinic is reducing infant mortality rates in Afghanistan.
Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!
Tales of suicide bombers and battles with Taliban insurgents continue to dominate the news from Afghanistan, but there remains a far more pervasive threat to human life in the troubled nation.
Afghanistan has the second-worst infant mortality rate in the world. One in six newborns die before their first birthday, and 6 out of every 100 mothers die during childbirth. Cultural constraints mean it is rare for male doctors to assist women giving birth and there are few midwives, especially in rural areas.
But one young woman helping reverse the trend is Zahara Zamani.
While a refugee in Iran, Zahara, 22, says she dreamed of becoming a health professional.
“Sometimes I would see people with health problems, especially women,” she recalls. “I wanted to help.”
A Life-Changing Tragedy
Later, following her return to Afghanistan, she remembers one case that especially touched her — a pregnant neighbor suffering from anemia who went into labor. Her child died almost immediately. Meanwhile the mother experienced massive hemorrhaging and died the next day.
“She was at home with her family. They didn’t understand what was happening. They weren’t educated about anemia. They didn’t take her to the hospital,” Zahara says sadly.
The experience spurred her to complete a World Vision-supported midwife training program based in Herat, western Afghanistan.
Following graduation in 2005, she returned to Jibril, in the Herat Province, where she took a job with a health clinic that serves 40,000 people in the village and neighboring communities.
As a midwife in the town of Jibril, Zahara sees some 50 women
each day. Photo by Mary Kate MacIsaac.
It’s a busy job. Over 120 patients visit the clinic daily; about 50 of them are women seeking Zahara’s advice and expertise. Many travel several miles by foot or donkey to reach help.
Among those who are delighted Zahara has brought her newfound skills to Jibril is Dr. Abdul Wali Alami, director of the clinic.
He recalls the situation before Zahara began working there — women suffering childbirth complications seldom had the support they needed.
“They would cut the umbilical cord with a dirty knife. The women didn’t know about pre-natal or post-natal care. They had no information about it,” he says.
Today, Zahara spends much of her time counseling about pregnancy care, believing that education is the key to reversing Afghanistan’s dire maternal and infant mortality rates.
Since 2004, 82 midwives have graduated from the midwife training program and are at work throughout western Afghanistan. Another 60 students are now in training. It’s expected the midwives’ efforts to educate and assist women through their pregnancies will ultimately slash death rates.
Zahara has become a significant agent of change in the Afghanistan of tomorrow.
Article courtesy of World Vision International. Please visit to learn more.
You can also read about how a neonatal clinic is reducing infant mortality rates in Afghanistan.
Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!
Friday, January 19, 2007
Power to the Working Moms!
I would like to appologize for not posting lately. I returned to work 3 days a week at the end of November and I'm still finding it to be quite an adjustment. I'm enjoying the work and enjoying being out of the house a bit but life has sped up to the point where it feels like we are all running on a treadmill set a tad too fast for us.
I am thankful that I'm only working three days a week. I am thankful that my sister is watching my son so I didn't have to find daycare. I am thankful that I can take the skytrain downtown so my commute is under forty-five minutes.
However, I miss my son. I miss being home to work on the projects I started while on maternity leave. I struggle to get dinner served on time. I struggle to get out of bed in the morning (my son has slipped back into the habit of night nursing four times a night since I went back to work).
I am in awe of those moms who work full-time, dropping kids at daycare, commuting. I don't know how you do it. I hear the big answer is a crock-pot.
I wanted to post some resources for working moms:
I would love it if you could share some other tips and resources. Please post a comment and let us know what works for you.
Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!
I am thankful that I'm only working three days a week. I am thankful that my sister is watching my son so I didn't have to find daycare. I am thankful that I can take the skytrain downtown so my commute is under forty-five minutes.
However, I miss my son. I miss being home to work on the projects I started while on maternity leave. I struggle to get dinner served on time. I struggle to get out of bed in the morning (my son has slipped back into the habit of night nursing four times a night since I went back to work).
I am in awe of those moms who work full-time, dropping kids at daycare, commuting. I don't know how you do it. I hear the big answer is a crock-pot.
I wanted to post some resources for working moms:
I would love it if you could share some other tips and resources. Please post a comment and let us know what works for you.
Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!
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