banthebags.org

A recent article in The New York Times reported on rising US breastfeeding rates. In the article, Bobby Philipp, a pediatrician at Boston University, pointed to formula bags as a key obstacle to breastfeeding success. Noting that most hospitals still market formula to new mothers, she said:

That’s a problem because at least five studies have shown that when a doctor or nurse hands the family that bag, even if they take the formula out, that mother will have less success with breast-feeding

Read the article

The March/April issue of Mothering Magazine features the Ban the Bags campaign. Part of the magazine’s “Speak truth to power” issue, Marsha Walker’s account of the struggle to move formula marketing out of hospitals is available online to digital subscribers, and on news stands everywhere.

Mothers who take home a formula company gift bag are more likely to stop exclusively breastfeeding their babies by 10 weeks of age, according to a new study in the American Journal of Public Health by the Oregon Department of Public Health. Oregon has taken the lead in banning hospital marketing of branded formula, according to a report on the study in The Oregonian.

The Center for Media and Democracy awarded the Bronze Medal “Falsie” award to the IFC for egregious distortion of information on the health risks of formula feeding. The Falsies honor the year’s most “cynical, manipulative and just plain anti-democratic pollution of our information environment.”

The Center writes:

For portraying accurate health information as alarmism and intrusive marketing campaigns as “freedom” — not to mention helping to keep U.S. breastfeeding rates well below those of European countries — this Falsie’s for you, IFC!

Read the full story here

In the September issue of Mothering Magazine, editor Peggy O’Mara details infant formula industry efforts to undermine breastfeeding:

In addition to the inaccurate information on breastfeeding provided by the mainstream media, the unethical marketing practices of the formula companies continue to undermine breastfeeding. Author Margaret Kenda recently told me about several “stealth” breastfeeding websites that appear to be grassroots advocacy sites, but are actually mouthpieces for the formula industry.

Read the full story

Writing for The Washington Post, reporters Marc Kaufman and Christopher Lee detail formula industry efforts to eviscerate a Dept of Health and Human Services breastfeeding promotion campaign. The report illustrates the formula industry’s agenda to market its product at the expense of public health. Read the article.

Portland, Oregon – To kick off Oregon’s Breastfeeding Promotion Month, Dr. Susan Allan, Public Health Director for Oregon Department of Human Services, presented “Maternity Care Best Practices” awards to 15 area hospitals which have eliminated formula sample packs from the discharge bags customarily given to mothers as they head home with their new babies. Portland is the first city in the nation to have both public and private hospitals ban the formula sample packs since the launch of the national “Ban the Bag” campaign one year ago. Read more »

The Infant Formula Council’s “Moms Feeding Freedom” web site has deleted scores of anti-marketing posts from its blog and discussion forums, censoring animated discussions among mothers about the ethics of aggressive formula marketing tactics.

Posting about the deleted threads, contributor Songbh writes, “So, what does it say when a website that claims to be devoted to protecting mothers’ freedoms and choices starts ‘disappearing’ our free speech?”
Read more »

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Welcome to BanTheBags.org, home of the national campaign to stop hospital-based marketing of infant formula to new mothers.