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Q and A with Mike Brady from Baby Milk Action

326 replies

RachelMumsnet · 06/12/2010 14:05

We're inviting you to send in your questions to Mike Brady, Campaigns and Networking Coordinator at Baby Milk Action.

Mike graduated in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and has worked in Africa as an engineer and science teacher. At Baby Milk Action, he monitors the baby food industry and campaigns to hold them to account.

Baby Milk Action is a non-profit organisation which aims to save lives and to end the avoidable suffering caused by inappropriate infant feeding. It is the UK member of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), a network of over 200 citizens groups in more than 100 countries.

Baby Milk Action's slogan is: "Protecting breastfeeding - Protecting babies fed on formula". It is perhaps best known for promoting a boycott of Nestlé, but also works with national governments and international bodies on regulations and marketing standards.

Mike was seen earlier this year outside Nestlé (UK) HQ in the guise of [[http://info.babymilkaction.org/emailnestle
Mr. Henry Nastie]], explaining Nestlé's marketing practices.

Send your questions in to Mike before midday on Friday 9th December and we'll link through to his answers from this thread later the following week.

OP posts:
tiktok · 10/12/2010 13:51

Mila: you say:
"In every country this happens but the difference is with clean sterilsed formula you get 2 thriving twins. In Pakistan they clearly don't have access to said clean sterilsed formula so you end up with a weaker twin not thriving."

That's the point of the picture. It's not meant to illustrate ff in the UK. It's meant to illustrate ff in Pakistan and anywhere ff is unsafe because of local circumstances.

Give it a rest, Mila. The photo is staged - of course it is. The story came from the mother herself - and if what she said was not true (what is unbelievable about it? I don't understand), there are many other stories of babies suffering because of inappropriate unsafe ff. Babies die because of unsafe or inadequate ff in the developing world, and this practice continues because of unethical marketing. It really doesn't matter if the picture is convincing to you or not - if it isn't, then take it as a fable.

Because you take issue with the blurb that 'almost certainly' she could have bf both, you resent the use of this picture. We don't know for sure she could have bf both - but if twins are term, healthy and the mother has support to bf effectively and frequently then 'almost certainly' a mother will be able to produce sufficient, as long as nothing interferes with this.

Look, Mila, this is not about you, it's not about your twins and it's not about this flippin photo!

MilaMae · 10/12/2010 14:06

No I won't give it a rest,I'm not going to be bullied off any discussion thanks. I really don't take to your aggressive tone every time you get a view point that doesn't tally with your own.

I'm not talking about my twins but twins in general and the fact is I don't take to staged photos of vulnerable mothers and dying babies being used to fight an argument particularly when facts are twisted at best, incorrect at worse.

Feeding twins is not an exact science, it's not easy anywhere. Is was a bad judgement to use this photo especially in order to make money.

lowercase · 10/12/2010 14:08
Shock
lowercase · 10/12/2010 14:09

who has used the photo to make money?

wtf?

tiktok · 10/12/2010 14:10

Blimey.

Was I aggressive or bullying? Really? Honestly?

lowercase · 10/12/2010 14:12

no tiktok, you were only slightly ascerbic at most!

lowercase · 10/12/2010 14:12

acerbic

tiktok · 10/12/2010 14:12

The postcard is available for sale, *lowercase".

I expect the mark up equates to about 5p (5 postcards for £1).

This 5p goes to a charity.

lowercase · 10/12/2010 14:14

well...even in the face of the photo, the message still isnt clear enough...

tiktok · 10/12/2010 14:15

Yeah, I thought I was being acerbic, too.

:)

Acerbic's ok, isn't it?

If we worry about being acerbic on mumsnet, in a discussion about formula marketing, in case someone thinks acerbic = aggressive and bullying (FFS), then we might all just as well be silent.

Pah!

organiccarrotcake · 10/12/2010 14:16

mila Tiktok is the veritable voice of reason (and knowledge). "aggressive" and "bullying" are not appropriate terms to use.

You don't like the photo. We've got it. Move on.

tiktok · 10/12/2010 14:22

Thanks, organic.

I try very hard never to criticise someone personally on this forum - so I don't (usually) describe someone as rude, or stupid, or obsessive, or aggressive, or bullying.

I take issue with what they say and their arguments only - if they say something that reveals something about them personally, then I will say what it is (so for example I said that Mila tended to say things that showed she was underinformed).

This is a useful policy for keeping discussion 'acerbic' and not straying into aggression towards a person, or bullying.

It's a good tip, Mila - you could use it :)

MilaMae · 10/12/2010 14:52

Organic just because you and Tiktok say her tone isn't aggressive that doesn't make it so. You don't speak for Mumsnet,every poster or indeed this thread as much as you would wish to.

Tiktok I find your tone in your last few posts aggressive and patronising wether you like this or not,we both know others have accused you of this before.

I don't need any tips thanks. Hmm

fabfashionista · 10/12/2010 14:59

Hi Mike,
I too boycott Nestle, and I can understand why you are so opposed to breastfeeding in developing countries, where there are questionable water supplies, etc. But I would like to understand better why you are opposed to companies that promote bottle feeding in the UK/Developed world. Surely in this situation where it is safe to bottle feed, this should be up to the mother to choose?
Thanks.

tiktok · 10/12/2010 15:03

Sorry you feel this way, Mila - I am not going to deny you the right to feel what you feel.

Yes, I have been accused of being patronising (though not, IIRC, of being aggressive. That's a first).

I find that people accuse me of this when I sound as if I think I know more than they do, and they don't like what they perceive as a superior tone. I will obviously have to watch that tendency - not being sarcastic here.

I also find people accuse me of this when they feel they may have lost the argument, and have run out of counter-strategies to calmly-argued logic and reason. It becomes easy for them to accuse me of being patronising, and I suppose in your case, easy to complain I am being aggressive. So the argument gets diverted to whether tiktok is being horrid to them.

I prefer to stick to the topic of the thread, and not to follow this tendency of it being all about an individual, so bye!

MilaMae · 10/12/2010 15:10

"so bye" Hmm

KellyBronze · 10/12/2010 15:14

Mila, your ignorance about this woman is so offensive you'd be cringing if you could see yourself from another POV.

The woman is Muslim. Of course she is not looking at the camera. Of course we don't know much about her. Women and baby girls especially have few human rights and her plight and the plight of her daughter is just another story in a country where millions live just one small step from catastrophe.

Just because in this country there would be demands on her identity etc. does not mean that the same holds true in a place like Pakistan. Many women in Pakistan are lucky to just know how to read and right and many won't even have proof of their age and birthday.

You really need to step back and read up and reflect on what you've read in relation to where you are coming from.

sorry.

KellyBronze · 10/12/2010 15:23
is another lying bribed Hmm mother Mila. One whose twin boy was ff and the twin girl ff.
KellyBronze · 10/12/2010 15:25

twin girl ff breastfed. I better step away now.

MilaMae · 10/12/2010 15:25

I'm fully aware of human rights thanks so much so I'm aware this poor lady had very little voice in this matter at all.

I'm sure she had very little say in the publishing and selling of this photo for money which is one of several reasons why it's wrong.

KellyBronze · 10/12/2010 15:27
Hmm

But do you understand now why she may not be looking at the camera?

and is the other woman in the video bribed and lying too?

MilaMae · 10/12/2010 15:31

No because there is no other info at all. For all you know that woman's husband was offered money and she was forced to be in the picture. Either way it's wrong to make money out of such heartbreak.

Not sure what the video proves it's the selling of the postcard I don't like.

KellyBronze · 10/12/2010 15:42

so you don't like the selling of the postcard but how do you feel about the unethical marketing of formula?

MsFox · 10/12/2010 15:53

"Not sure what the video proves"

Perhaps you should watch it again, several times until it sinks in Hmm

KellyBronze · 10/12/2010 16:04

"I'm sure she had very little say in the publishing and selling of this photo for money which is one of several reasons why it's wrong."

Could you for one minute consider the diametric opposite that this may be the first time she has been given a voice in her life by agreeing for this photo to be taken and published? and pray tell, even authorize its use to teach others?

jeez.

there is none so blind as he who refuses to see.