| Continued from Page
2
| Mixed message |
A public service ad campaign that highlights the risk of not breastfeeding launched in early June after a six-month delay because of the content.
The controversial TV and print ads are the product of the HHS Office on Women’s Health and the Advertising Council, a nonprofit association of advertising professionals known for creating public service campaigns like Smokey Bear and McGruff, the crime-fighting dog.
The breastfeeding campaign was set to begin in December, but pressure from the formula manufacturers about the message delayed it. Instead of just stressing the benefits of breastfeeding, the ads emphasize the risks of not breastfeeding.
According to statements from the United States Breastfeeding Committee, concerns were raised that the scientific research on certain claims were new or inconsistent, that the ads were too negative, and that they made formula-feeding mothers feel guilty. More than 1,000 letters supporting the ads were sent to the Department of Health and Human Services, which ordered changes to the commercials that critics say watered down the message.
Not all breastfeeding supporters were pleased with the tone of the ads. American Academy of Pediatrics President Carden Johnston, MD, in a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, questioned the negative message and cautioned the department to “avoid making any claims that cannot be scientifically validated and thus undermine the credibility of the campaign.”
One commercial shows a pregnant woman getting thrown from a mechanical bull and says, “You wouldn’t take risks while you’re pregnant. Why start after?”
The ad says breastfeeding can lessen ear infections, diarrhea, and respiratory illnesses and ends with the tagline “Babies are born to be breastfed.”
Previous versions of the ads that were broadcast on ABC TV’s 20/20 but not distributed to media outlets included statistics that compared risks of leukemia and diabetes for formula-fed vs. breastfed babies. The statistics and references to leukemia and diabetes were eliminated. The ads can be viewed at www.adcouncil.org/campaigns/ breastfeeding.
Donna Hemmila
|
Thorne breastfed both her now-adult children and believes her daughter’s generation will adopt breastfeeding more readily than their parents because of the greater exposure to breastfeeding role models and support programs.
Support system
The need for a continuing support system has led Sutter Health’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, Calif., to expand its breastfeeding program. In late 2005, the hospital, which has about 10,000 births a year, will open an outpatient lactation center.
Alta Bates now has an inpatient program with seven certified lactation consultants. About 85% of all new moms at Alta Bates breastfeed, said Joan Gress, RN, IBCLC, manager of the hospital’s breastfeeding support program.
“I think we’re turning the tables a bit,” she said.
American culture has become one of bottlefeeding, she said, and new mothers may never have been exposed to other women who breastfed. They need instruction, reassurance, and follow-up support. At Alta Bates, the lactation consultants visit with every mom who delivered early and those who are referred by their care provider.
Most women have made up their minds about choosing to breastfeed by the time they arrive for delivery, Gress said. The lactation consultants meet with the few who are still ambivalent and request more information. The program offers a weekly support group for breastfeeding families, but the new center also will offer a place where a mother can nurse her baby while the consultant observes to give instruction and encouragement.
At the Kaiser Permanente Hayward (Calif.) Medical Center, Miriam Levitt, RN, IBCLC, said the lactation consultants see every new mother at discharge, and more than 90% leave the hospital breastfeeding. The medical center is the only one in the area certified under the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Created in 1991 by the United Nations Children’s Fund and The World Health Organization, the initiative’s goal is to promote breastfeeding globally.
More than 16,000 hospitals and birth centers have been awarded the baby-friendly designation, including 42 in the United States. To be certified, a facility has to meet 10 criteria including offering prenatal breastfeeding education and support programs after discharge, not administering any liquids or supplements to newborns unless prescribed for medical reasons, and training all caregivers about the benefits of human milk. The hospital does not accept free formula from the manufacturers, Levitt said.
“Even though most mothers will make an attempt to breastfeed, the bottle is seen as a normal thing and it becomes easy to give up [breastfeeding],” Levitt said.
Health practitioners need to turn that perception around, she said, so women begin to view breastfeeding as the norm and bottlefeeding as just an alternative to the preferred feeding method.
To comment on this story, send e-mail to editorca@nurseweek.com.
|
Reply to Article