For those of you who can't understand why so many of us get our knickers in a twist about formula marketing and advertising..Have a look at this and you will. Believe me,you will

[moondog]

Nestle and the way they operate on Bangladesh. From today's Guardian

I have taken the list and put it on my Grocery clipboard, I'll boycott

Aitch: I have heard that - and I have also heard that being induced can inhibit the milk supply as well. I know I tried manual expressing, expressing by pump, fennel tea, fenugreek capsules... DS got about a mouthful a day, produced by me practically wringing out each tit into his mouth. But I digress and anyway he's healthy and thriving.
Still no fan of Nestle's marketing, though.

3andnomore - I had some pics taken on me feeding DD for our local maternity unit - apparently they are as rare are unicorn poop and if people don't see it they don't really think of it as an option

Can I just remind everyone though that it's not enough to boycott Nestle products, but you have to tell them you are doing so? If enough people stomp their feet, their world will shake.

snap! i was also induced. and had an epidural cos of high bp AND have PCOS so was a bit cursed... totally know what you mean about wringing out your tits. gad, it was awful at the time. that's the thing, i think, we're all so vulnerable when we've had a baby, whether we're in Bangladesh or Britain and it's utterly cunty to manipulate that vulnerability and kill children because of it.

You know some people really do surprise me. How can you NOT think that Nestle and others' aggressive marketing of formula to the developing world is just WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

Thanks Boco for the email address, I have written and copied in my local NCT branch.

Oh, Aitch I'd never heard that about being induced. I was induced and had a dreadful time with supply (feed, pump, feed, pump, feed, pump for hours on end). Gave up and 6 weeks. And that was with great support and encouragement from the bf counsellor. Imagine what a vulnerable new mum in the developing world with no help and no support. Complete and utter twunts.

twofalls, you've forgotten such an important part of the process... it's feed, pump, wash, sterilise, feed, pump, wash, sterilise etcetcetc...

Deegward, if you're still there, I'm sorry I was rude. This is an issue that I feel very, very strongly about, but there's still no excuse. I'm truly sorry you weren't able to breastfeed your baby. However, this doesn't change the fact that formula is inferior to breastmilk in any context, and in a context where there's no clean water to mix it and no hot water or detergent to wash the bottles, it is an absolute disaster.
As many other posters have said, Nestle are only in the business of making money. This means that they will promote their products in whatever way they can, within the bounds of legality. Nestle started to look for new markets for formula in the 1970s, as birthrates in the developing world were falling, and knowledge of the inferiority of formula was starting to become more common knowledge in the developed world. The search for new markets naturally led them to the developing world and to countries like Bangladesh. Just look at Bangladesh - babies galore (more than 6 per woman in the 1970s although it's now declined to just over 3), mothers with little or no education and very little access to health advice, a society with a desperate yearning for the trappings of westernisation and "modernity" - rich pickings! The only way that Nestle will be induced to change their policies is consumer pressure, and this is why it is incumbent on those of us who object to what they're doing to boycott their products - although as Suedonim says, they do seem to own the world.

lol, Atich, of course. No wonder I never slept.

Deegward, not sure if you are still there but I do understand where you are coming from. I really, really do, not bf for me was such a sad thing and took me a long time to get over. It is still a slightly sensitive topic to be honest. This isn't a thread about judging women who ff, believe me if it was I would be fighting with you in your corner. It is about the cynical, unethical and wholly unnecessary marketing efforts of big business which is causing babies to die. Nobody has made any judgements about you and I hope you are not feeling too bad.

Aitch/twofalls - I too was induced (pre-eclampsia) and had a horrid time getting supply established, it took twelve weeks for things to really settle down and the midwives were astonished because I was the only mum, on a floor of 120 mums, who was breastfeeding. But I had no idea it was an induction thing either. So thanks! I was not crap, just overmedicated!

i love that picture of Xenia breastfeeding VVV. Why don't we do a MN breastfeeding calendar [sponsored by someone] and try to get it circulated around these countries? Funds to Save the Children or something. I'm still breastfeeding...[how do you get them to self wean by the way...]

I just emailed them. Might also be worth emailing other companies they're involved with so they know people are avoiding them too and not just the nestle named products.

I'm still breastfeeding too

hands up who'll pose for the calendar? [me]

Ruty - I would

Ruty - would be glad to - in fact I even have some piccies ready.

Tang, NCT knows about this and is taking action.

This is a lovely idea. There is an organisation in Sydney that produces a breastfeeding calendar for charity and I had a couple of copies, all tasteful black and white photos, babies and children all ages. I'll try and find a link to their website.

T'would be quite easy to put together. I'd happily get DH to take a photo of me and DD and send it in.

Would MN sponsor it??

I'd happily co-ordinate the photography bit of it.

Ruty, that's Xena not Xenia!!!!! LOL!

I love it when ds2 is feeding and he's looking into my eyes and then gives me a big grin, then goes back to feeding.

If I could convince DS to have another b/feed I'd do it!!!! Fab idea!
(DS has pretty much self-weaned this last week)

LOL! Xena Warrior Princess aka Lucy Lawless.

This is the link for the australian version sorry can't do the fancy version as my keyboard is knackered (and so am I...)

www.breastfeeding.asn.au/products/calendar.html

An alternative would be something like the tear off pad mentioned in the article?

Or a jute bag like the Mile for Maude ones?

Or...any other ideas? Maybe we should start a new thread.