banthebags.org

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC, and Anne Merewood, MPH, IBCLC, launched the Ban the Bags Campaign at a plenary session at the International Lactation Consultants Association meeting. View their PowerPoint talk to learn more about the struggle to curb pharmaceutical company influence in Massachusetts and the national campaign to remove marketing tactics from maternity wards.

Show your support for Ban the Bags with mugs, badges, t-shirts, and even a Ban the Bags Bag. Visit our online store. Proceeds support the Ban the Bags campaign.

PHILADELPHIA, July 15, 2006- To cheering crowds and immense public support at the International Lactation Consultants Association conference, the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition announced a new national campaign to limit formula company marketing by hospitals. “Ban the Bags” will help hospitals to stop distributing formula company discharge bags to new mothers on maternity units.

Health care professionals have long opposed this practice. “This tactic is the crown jewel in the companies’ marketing strategy, because parents see the hospital as endorsing baby formula, especially the expensive brands” says Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC, a Board member of MBC and a national authority on formula marketing. Read more »

Health professionals should prepare talking points for interview situations, contact with the press, or meeting with legislators or public health officials and avoid being drawn into debates that make them appear to be zealots. The following are common industry assertions and claims by opponents followed by useful responses. Read more »

Moving marketing out of hospitals requires a multipronged approach, ranging from legislation to public awareness to hospital policy change. See how others are tackling this problem across the country. Read more »

As of May 2006, leaders at 11 of the 52 maternity hospitals in Massachusetts had put mothers and babies ahead of formula company profits. The state’s report card lists births, breastfeeding rates, and bag policies statewide. Read more »

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

The Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition gathered letters from multiple state and national organizations in support of a state ban on formula company marketing in hospitals. The CDC, the American Public Health Association, the Massachusetts Public Health Association and District I of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology all urged the governor to reinstate the ban. Read more »

By Alison Stuebe, MD

What’s in a bag?

For years, hospitals have distributed “gift” bags to new mothers, courtesy of the drug companies that sell baby formula. Over the years, bag styles have changed, from pastel bunnies to sleek briefcase black. What hasn’t changed is the strategy: big formula companies are using hospitals to promote their product to new mothers. Read more »

Multiple groups, from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, agree that formula marketing has no place in hospitals. Read more »