SMA and their fecking propaganda

[IAteRoseMaryConleyForBreakfast]

So when I was pregnant I signed up for the SMA baby club for some unknown reason, probably some sort of freebies. They send me leaflets every few months full of patronising "helpful advice". This one was a corker.

Apparently now my baby is 8-9 months old iron is very important for development (fair point) and to this end I should ensure his daily diet includes fish, red meat, pulses, dried fruit, green vegetables and 500-600ml of SMA Progress! Absolutely NO mention of breastmilk here whatsoever (elsewhere in the leaflet they've included the obligatory "breastmilk is the ideal food for your baby" line). In fact, the way it's worded you'd be forgiven for thinking you should be giving all of the above PLUS breastmilk each day.

I feel all outraged and irate. Perhaps I should complain. Or maybe I'm over-reacting. But I just thought the way it was worded it might suggest to those who are still BFing that they need to be giving formula as well or instead. Which, as we know, is bollocks.

I think you are over reacting.

YOU signed up to it and presumably you can unsubscribe. They manufacture formula, so it's a fair assumption that they are going to plug their product. It's also a fair assumption that those who subscribe to their club probably use formula.

I wouldn't join the Vegetarian Society and expect leaflets about the importance of meat in my diet.

Err - you signed up to a marketing campaign and are then shocked when they market their product.

Unsubscribe!

WHat on earth did you expect signing up to a formula club? Of course they are going to use it for propaganda.

Ditto - sorry, but what do you expect? It's like the TV thing - if you don't like it, don't watch it.

UNSUBSCRIBE!!

Oh I know, I know, it's just so annoying the way they make out you've got to give your baby formula or it'll become iron-deficient. And all this 'phone our advice line for help with all parenting issues' - cos they'll help me through a nursing strike, right?

DP signed up to Cow and Gate for some sort of free stuffed toy and that gives me something else to moan and bitch about. He says you should all try living with me.

Implications are annoying - I agree. They're very sneaky and insidious and lots of people would read it as in addition to, or just forget the BM.

Sadly unsurprising - you could contact advertising standards and see what they think?

lol when I read the thread title I thought "great, hunker's back"

did they give you anything usful? any nice feebies?

sorry but think the adversiting standards would just laugh. "I signed up to a formula company, and now they are daring to tell me about formula!" .

If they were sending this info unsolicited you would have grounds for complaint, but you signed up to it so therefore you have indirectly said you're happy to receive it. What else did you expect?

Whilst ever they can get away with it, they will do whatever they need to to sell their product.

In some countries, it is illegal for manufacturers to approach mothers with offers of clubs and so on, because they use it for unethical marketing of their product...it's not a surprise that this happens, of course, because if you have the name and address of someone who has requested club membership (and the OP wanted freebies, but there is no such thing as a free lunch, as we know....) then you will use it to flog your product.

It's legal, but unethical. Mothers who choose to formula feed (and their babies) deserve decent, evidence-based information about infant feeding, not confused and ambiguous 'advice' that's designed pure and simple to sell their product.

The thing is, I know I signed up to it but that was when I was pregnant, and many mums at that stage might have been undecided about how to feed their babies. So if we assume I have got this far, breastfeeding, well done me etc, then suddenly a glossy leaflet full of handy hints and tips arrives telling me I need to give my baby SMA Progress or it's going to get anaemic and not develop properly, what then? A less enlightened person might think they were doing something wrong by continuing to breastfeed.

That's what bugs me, that they're preying on people who really aren't as aware of these things as most of us will be. And who sign up to these lists in the fuzz of pre-baby excitement, hormones and confusion. As we all know, we can't rely on the Health Visitor service to keep you in the right re weaning (poor DS, to the HV's horror I ignored their advice to make sure he had a taste of food at 4 months, and guess what, he ate half a pear, a quarter of a melon and some cheese for lunch, so you can see how much it's set him back ).

Anyway, I guess a rant about poor/absent/biased/unfounded information for new mums isn't exactly groundbreaking stuff on Mumsnet ...

Yawn. Get over it.

I'm totally with the OP on this one. Formula companies have a primary duty to protect the health of babies - and they can do this in part by not giving mums biased or incomplete information on which to make choices.

I think it's insidious. I've contacted C&G in the past to complain about the marketing material masquerading as 'health information' they hand out to mothers. One C&G booklet I found called "common feeding problems" had information on constipation which implied that both ff and bf babies who haven't pooed for a few days should be given cooled boiled water between feeds. Anyone who knows anything about breastfeeding knows that bf babies who don't poo in the first week of life need to be seen by a midwife as it may be a sign of bf failure; they also know that you don't give water to a bf baby in between feeds if bf is established, and that many bf babies over a week or so old can go days and days without pooing and it's completely normal - as long as bf is established. I thought the information in the booklet was dangerous and I phoned C&G to complain. They admitted that the booklet was under review but refused to withdraw it. The booklet also contained information on how the diet of a bf mum might affect her baby that was misleading and not evidence based.

None of these things are incidental - these companies know that the more mums bf the less profit they'll make. They subtly undermine breastfeeding in every way they can - either implying that the differences between it and formula are insignificant, or by giving positively misleading and inaccurate information.

I think the government should step in and police them.

And they should stop them giving any advice what so ever on breastfeeding..... I mean - it's like allowing Mr Kipling to provide information on dieting.....

I think the best solution might be to join Baby Milk Action as well, so at least you'll get balance in your mailings...

agree with sabire and op.

I agree with op too - really, bf should be seen as norm with formula available for when it is not possible (for whatever reason - lots of people genuinely struggle, I came v. close to giving up but thankfully had v. supportive family, midwife, hv and bfc). Lots of people (myself included) signed up to loads when pregnant to get freebies! If formula was only issued on prescription then no direct marketing would be allowed. People could then choose formula with proper advice from health professionals instead of the companies themselves. You don't buy adult nutritional supplements like fortisips off the counter - you get them from a dietician / GP / doctor / nurse. Why should babies deserve less. For all the advertising, i have no idea what the difference between various brands are - surely what advertising should be about..

Never never never never never sign up for freebies. Ever. Even if there is a getout tick box.
They'll always have your name and address!

Just think of all the hundreds and hundreds of places you have innocently signed up for things, or just 'entered yourself into a prize draw', given your name, address, telephone, age,... no. of children, marital status?, job?.... etc..... Whether you get further letters and ads from them or not, they are using this information to create marketing for something somewhere.

Supermarket reward cards may seem inocuous (sp?), and you get loads of money back, but someone somewhere knows aaaaaaaalllllll your shopping habits. I for one find that very spooky.

Moral of story for OP. Don't sign up for a cheapy fluffy toy for anyone.

happyprince, see archives for views on why formula on prescription is not the way to go...IMO.