Written by: Viviane Schima, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Opening Statement
Millions of people are left without food resources for their infants. How did this happen? Is there no concern about leaving millions of infants hungry? With the risk of severe vitamin and nutrient deficiency, which can lead to malnutrition faster than we would want, we must ask: HOW could this happen in an affluent country?
Long story short: money.
During the Covid pandemic, millions of people, including young parents stocked up on the essentials, including baby formula leaving nothing on the shelves of the grocery stores for months on end.
When the first wave passed, restrictions were lifted and life started to be normal again, there was no formula to be found due to a massive mathematical error. It is important we remember that profit is of utmost importance to formula companies and because people stocked up on formula, the demand decreased.
But as with every calculation, when the variable of life is thrown into the equation, nothing can be predicted with a guarantee. Parents ran out of formula faster than formula companies thought they would, creating a massive formula shortage nationwide.
The difficulties that come with a world pandemic
With millions of companies not only running out of business but also many having their operating staff reduced down to 15%, malfunctions in the manufacturing process started to occur. Hundred of thousands of formula batches were being recalled from stores and homes due to an increasing number of, oddly, coinciding cases of sick babies.
Ordering baby formula from Europe is a no-go as all formula shipments coming from Europe are seized at the customs and border control, leaving parents not only desperate but also under increased financial pressure. What is there to do? Breastfeeding is not something that can be turned on and off according to your needs or the world economy and disasters. So what is the answer to this turning point in the world of baby formula?
The Building and Making of the Case
It starts in medical school, the place where we would think lies the solid and firm rocks of breastfeeding knowledge. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.
The fairly new field of lactation consultants, International Board Certified Lactation Consultants knowns as IBCLCs, breastfeeding advocates, volunteers, and non-profit organizations such as La Leche League International (which stands on the experience of mothers offering support to other mothers), only has existed since the 1980s. The courageous comeback came after almost two centuries of banning midwifery and women from the process of childbirth due to beliefs of midwifery being equivalent to witchcraft.
OBGYNs, by definition, are surgeons and have been controlling the field of gynecology ever since the 1800s, holding a more ‘medical management' view of childbirth.
Aspiring medical professionals do not receive sufficient training nor information on the general physiology of breastfeeding, solutions to the most common problems, or education on how to set breastfeeding off to a good start. And it only gets worse from here on.
The $3,653 Million Industry of Artificial Milk
The doctors get barraged with aggressive ballyhoo strategies from formula companies and receive various invitations to all sorts of seminars on infant nutrition, which are, of course, all sponsored by formula companies.
Doctors like to exclude themselves from being influenced by advertising, when in fact, they are not. We all are being influenced by advertising and here’s why if it wouldn’t work, companies wouldn’t invest large amounts of money, time, and effort into it. Advertising taps on our subconscious mind and is, therefore, mainly built on a brain-based science. And it works every time.
Once a problem arises and the baby falls under a standard development threshold (i.e. the average weight gain over a certain amount of time), too many medical professionals advise weaning the baby and supplementing with formula, which is almost always unnecessary. The solution is for the mother and baby to get good hands-on help.
The clincher came when formula started to be advertised to mothers from developing countries. They usually couldn’t afford it, did not have access to clean, freshwater, and could not read the instructions on the label on how to properly prepare baby milk. Reports on emaciated and dying babies in developing countries made breaking news all across the globe.
The Tragic Deaths of Infants Caused by Baby Formula and The WHO Code of Ethics on Baby Formula Advertisement
In 1978 and 1979, 141 cases of hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis in infants were reported, resulting from the ingestion of two soy-based formulas, Neo-Mull-Soy and Cho Free produced by Syntex, Inc. Infants that are diagnosed and suffer from this condition require lifelong fluid and electrolyte replacement therapy and can often be accompanied by a secondary disease known as cystic fibrosis caused due to an excess salt loss.
Several years ago, a study tested multiple brands of formula and found that some cans contained more than four times the amount of vitamin D listed on the label. Vitamin D in excess amounts is toxic to infants.
In 2003, three babies in Israel died with another ten being admitted to the hospital because the formula they drank didn’t contain adequate levels of vitamin B1.
In 2008, The Guardian reported more than 300,000 Chinese babies fell ill after drinking formula contaminated with melamine (a type of plastic found in many reusable utensils, plates, and cups).
In February 2022, the FDA recalled Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare formula batches from the market due to the possible contamination with Cronobacter (a germ that can cause fever, low energy, seizures, and life-long brain damage to babies).
More than 1.5 million babies die each year because of campaigns that discourage mothers from nursing.- Los Angeles Times
In the wake of so many baby deaths caused by insufficient knowledge and poor preparation of baby formula, these developing countries called for action.
The World Health Organization, UNICEF, non-governmental organizations, and formula companies themselves came up with a code of ethical marketing regarding infant formula, bottles and artificial nipples, and any food or drink that could replace breast milk in an infant’s diet, including baby foods, gruels, teas, and juices.
The code was adopted in 1981 but it is not legally binding and sadly, most of the countries that signed the code are not enforcing it accordingly.
Objections
The majority of countries in the world supported adopting the Code. One of the very few opposing countries was the United States, which essentially told formula companies not to take this seriously. On top of all this, it made formula advertising a highly unregulated industry in the United States.
Formula companies successfully influence the media to discredit the benefits of breastfeeding and breast milk as well as undermine women’s ability in breastfeeding in general. This is technically not considered advertising as described in the Code, but is, without a doubt, more effective because mothers think this information is unbiased.
The code is in place to protect the special bond between a mother and her baby and helps both to be able to reap the benefits of breast milk.
Studies show that 93% of mothers end up supplementing with the same baby formula that was used in the hospital where their baby was born. This is why formula companies are restless and very keen to pay large amounts of money to become a hospital’s exclusive provider.
This continues to this day where doctors receive growth charts with advertisements, coffee mugs with advertisements, tape measures with advertisements, posters, pens, and notebooks with advertisements to mention a few.
In 1989, Nestlé - a European giant in the food and beverage industry entered the North American scene with the most sinister marketing strategy the world of baby formula has seen to date. Because Nestlé couldn’t advertise their products through hospitals, they started sending free formula to mothers at home!
Behind the Scenes on Doing Research
I have just recently seen a mother asking for peer opinions on social media in a study conducted by Aptamil. The way how these studies are done could be easily associated with the faulty to deliver accurate blood test results as was in the case of Elizabeth Holmes and her choice to dishonestly report on how these tests were conducted and under what circumstances. However, in this case, the lives of babies are at stake.
According to the Code, only scientific information can be given to health professionals. What they actually get are articles reporting studies that are funded, of course, by the formula companies and showing how good their formulas are.
Another blatantly out-in-the-open aggressive marketing technique is to get free trips to exotic destinations, which are paid for by the formula companies, and attend seminars with skilled speakers (contracted by formula companies), where new formulas are introduced and praised.
“Not long ago, I started to receive, every month, an information sheet from a group called Integrative Medicine (subtitled Paediatric Nutrition). Most of the information was about formula feeding, which is odd, given that breastfeeding is such an important part of pediatric nutrition. April 11, 2011, issue urges the use of soy formula for bottle-fed babies allergic to cow’s milk, even though both the Canadian Paediatric Society and the America Academy of Pediatrics recommend hydrolyzed formulas in this situation instead. The article (unsigned) mentions a particular brand of soy formula. In tiny type on the last page, it says: “Distribution of this educational publication is made possible through the support of Abbott Nutrition Canada under an agreement that ensures independence.” Abbott, you will not be surprised to learn, makes the formula mentioned in the “educational publication.” So how independent is this “educational publication”?” - Dr. Jack Newman in his book Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding, 2014, pg. 31-32.
Probiotics and Colic Proudly Presented by Nutricia
There is yet another case that can be looked upon and it involves Nutricia, a particularly aggressive marketer of infant formula. The theory was that the lack of probiotics in a baby’s gut causes them to be colicky. Solution? Specially enhanced formula! But not just any formula.
Health professionals are often times contracted by these large formula companies and this time wasn’t an exception. When an apparently peer-reviewed article came out in a highly respected journal, The Archives of Diseases of Childhood, it claimed that prebiotics in Nutricia’s formula decreased the risk of atopic dermatitis (eczema). Eczema is not colic.
As with many other questionable studies conducted by formula companies, this proves very little, especially when presented in a publication that displays a bottle-fed baby on its cover.
What we’re left with is a pediatrician who categorically rejects that breastfeeding is the normal way of feeding a baby and an editor who states no further studies and trials are needed because the study itself is so well designed.
Any study, no matter how well designed, needs to be repeated for verification because there are many ways a study can produce inadvertently inaccurate results.
To close this particular case up, there is no factual proof that prebiotics nor probiotics given to a baby in formula milk (or separately via vitamin supplementation) help with colic.
The proven fact, however, is that breastmilk stimulates the growth of probiotics in the baby’s gut and more is not always better, nor necessary.
Closing Statements
The world we live in forces us into a vicious cycle that starts with the social pressure of starting a family within a specific time span. Not before finishing school but after we land a somewhat satisfying job. Not before we have a house and after we get that one-time offer on that minivan allowing us to travel at low cost with our planned family. The system is flawed, however, in that America and many other counties around the globe do not have sufficient legislation in place to support new mothers and offer acceptable maternity leave.
That leaves a new family anxious to go back to work as soon as possible, sometimes before the end of the fourth trimester. The fourth trimester is here because our ancestor Lucy, who decided to start walking on two legs some 3.2 million years ago, is responsible for the narrowing of our birth canals.
That is why babies are born highly immature and in complete need of their mother the first year after birth. Yet, the mother is shipped off to work again before the fourth trimester ends, left to leave her baby with childcare professionals, and forced to depend on artificial milk supplementation. What’s more, the companies often threaten a new mother to make sure to come back as soon as possible because she can very quickly lose all her very hard-earned benefits or be replaced altogether. The wish and request to be able to pump are also oftentimes denied.
This is yet another trigger for postpartum mental health problems, which are being taken into consideration by neither the government nor the employer.
This vicious cycle comes full circle when the mother is forced to pay off the large amounts of money on baby formula and daycare arrangements each month, leaving her to pray that her baby will not be the one who drinks contaminated formula. At this point, it is too far beyond our control, and “the game” becomes more trial and error rather than the parents being actively involved in the decisions that include their family.
Verdict
When it comes to the endless trial of breastmilk vs artificial milk, the jury is still out and it is up to us, the future and current mothers, the never-resting breastfeeding advocates, doulas, midwives, (and even some physicians and nurses who represent the very minority where breastfeeding is seen as the normal and natural way to feed a baby), to tip the scales to our benefit. It is a long way to go but the first step toward change is action.
Indecision is still a decision. A poor one, however.
There are three steps, very efficient steps, in which this can be done.
Step one is prevention. Working with a doula and a breastfeeding specialist can make all the changes. A doula is an invaluable asset to a mother’s birth dream team and can make or break her birth experience.
Almost all doulas are trained in breastfeeding, some to a larger extent than others. Ultimately, a doula is here to give you all the evidence-based and factual information so that a mother can make an informed choice.
With health professionals enticed with large amounts of money and exotic trips paid by formula companies, we can expect them to be radically against breastfeeding as the natural way to feed a baby and we can’t expect them to help a mother with her breastfeeding when there is an issue. It is simply not good enough of a trade-off for them.
With formula companies not allowing us to see behind the scenes, it can become impossible to penetrate and find out any information, not to mention factually correct and clinically proven information.
Step two is to understand and acknowledge the invaluable benefits that there are to breastmilk and its lifelong benefits to the mother and her baby. We must understand the never-ending exploitation tactics of formula companies who try to undermine the valuable food source that is breastmilk. Breastmilk is always ready, has the perfect composition from feed to feed, enhances the overall relationship dynamic and quality between a mother and her baby, and has the perfect temperature. That is tough competition and that is why the marketing of formula is so aggressive. Once we understand this concept, we can move forward to step three.
(I like to compare this process to the supply and demand of eggs. The fewer eggs we buy that come from chickens that are kept in hangars, the less demand there will be, ultimately resulting in a decrease in the supply.)
The final third step comes in place when it’s time to advocate as individuals and as a community. Being able to recognize that breastfeeding is, indeed, the normal way of feeding a baby and negating the stigma around public feeding is crucial.
Nowadays, due to the negative stigmas around public breastfeeding, lactation support not only has to demonstrate how breastfeeding works and what the solutions to different issues are (i.e. the practicality of breastfeeding), but must also cover what to expect when in public.
The harsh, discriminatory, racial, ethnic, derogatory, and condescending verbal accusations that mothers have to deal with can be devastating. A woman’s body goes through immense changes when giving birth. Physical, hormonal, emotional, and mental changes. This leaves the mother vulnerable to outer threats in addition to the multitude of challenges that naturally come with parenthood.
Breastfeeding in public is protected by law.
There are variations to the law but you can look up all of them here.
And here we are, at a critical point in the ongoing cases of corruption that continue in the world of infant nutrition. The actions of every individual matter more than ever. Don’t wait to be silenced until it's too late. Advocate for breastfeeding, Save babies. Save your baby.
If this article contributed to your choice to breastfeed and you want to know about all the priceless benefits of it, don’t wait and book a call with me.
Viviane Schima, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Viviane Schima is a Newborn Care & Breastfeeding specialist, founder of The AH-mazing, Pain-Free Birth Formula™, Mama Coach and a podcast host. As a certified Lactation Consultant & Doula, Viviane uses her expert knowledge and more than ten years of experience to provide mothers with the support they need and the results they want. She believes that making informed decisions creates a path to empowerment and owning your choices. For Viviane, this empowerment journey begins with preconception, to the moment of conception, and beyond. Viviane is an enthusiastic advocate of breastfeeding, low intervention births and “skin-to-skin” contact after birth. “Creating a strong and healthy community starts at home."
