Can you help with stopping birth registrars giving out formula promotions?

[Lisanova]

Parents all over the country currently receive marketing materials which undermine breastfeeding when they register their babies birth. This information comes along with their babies birth certificate, in a folder which contains a range of leaflets - some official government ones, along with a leaflet encouraging parents to join Hipp Organics online group. through this group parents will receive free samples, coupons, expert advice etc. they also receive a leaflet for pregnacare's breastfeeding supplement for mothers.

Some of the parents register their babies with a registrar who visits the hospital, this means that the hospitals rules about marketing materials an compliance with Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative are undermined.

These birth registration folders are provided by Lifecycle Marketing, who also produce Emma's diary.

At the moment there is a break in the supply of the Lifecycle wallets, so now is the time to take action!

There is an alternative folder that registrars can use and this is distributed by civil ceremonies, this can be provided along with a wallets for death certificates.

So.. What Can you do?

Please check if your local Registrar uses a folder to present birth certificates which is produced by " lifecycle Marketing". If they do, Inform them that some of the leaflets contained in this folder undermine the WHO code (and Unicef baby friendly accreditation that the PCT/Hospital may be in the process of obtaining/ have obtained) and to point out that other alternatives are available.

nigglewiggle - formula manufacturers use promotion of solids as a way of cross-marketing....its a well known tactic. So the name Hipp is seen by you, the name becomes better known and it becomes a de facto formula promotion, because the formula shares the same name and same packaging and branding.

Got the one with promotions when I registered sprout but didn't think anything of it. Couple of months ago I thought back and realised it had affected my brand perceptions (but not my breastfeeding, thank goodness) and was wondering what to do.

Not sure whether will get the chance realistically to stop it in advance but when I register the next in April I fully intend to do something if I get the promotional stuff, including telling registrar's boss, Baby Milk Action and any company mentioned within that I WON'T be using their products and why. Hopefully the commercial pressure might help too.

I also intend to be lovely to the registrar as all the ones I have ever dealt with have been extremely professional, compassionate and helpful and they would probably be mortified to know they are being used as an advertiser.

I understand that, and it is insidious, but it doesn't contravene the rules.

I get the cross marketing info tactic - so would it be best if such info was sent (e.g. Hipp re solids) in the post/email once your LO was turning 6months? Is it just inappropriate that they are putting it in the birth reg packs when solids is not even an option for a long time?

Any service that we pay for through out taxes such as the NHS or the registrar - through the council should be free of marketing pressure. Parents should be able to make decisions based on Evidenced based Information.

Hipp Organic, just like many other brands uses the same brand name for infant formula ( which is not allowed to be marketed by law) as its other products (which are not covered by the law. By doing this they are able to promote the brand name of the infant formula whilst not breaking the law - this is a legal loophole.

Bounty - the other provider of parent packs has now understood this and has changed their policy I have it on my blog boscombewest.blogspot.com/search/label/Baby%20Milk%20Action

Although formula feeding mothers might not see what the fuss is about, Breastfeeding mothers can be given (often subtley) the wrong information which can lead to difficulties. formula leaflets on babycare talk of babies sleeping through the night, being 'hungrier' etc. This undermines breastfeeding.

Marketing clearly targeted at parents with infants. May not be illegal strictly speaking, but definitely not in the spirit of the law. Wonder if every Council has a breast feeding policy? If so, then seems to be they are violating their own policy by distributing these packs.

OK, I've just written to our local registrar's office. I'll let you know if I get a response.

Its a great idea for councils to have a breastfeeding policy, I think very few do currently, they have always thought it was something for the health services only, but with children's centres taking a role now, and it being a target in local area (partnership) agreements it is becoming more of a responsibility for councils. I would be interested to hear what people think should be included in a council policy? Perhaps that should be another thread?!

Just emailed the worcester office so will let you know what they come back with

yes - as councils cover swimming and liesure center - where they expect you to feed baby in the loo round here..

I've had this reply:

"There have been a few issues recently regarding these folders and I would very much like to know your reason for this enquiry and from what company or organisation you are working?

I am more than happy to speak to you to discuss further if you would like to contact me on the telephone number below."

Sounds a bit cagey!! I'll try to call them this week.

That is not allowed - they are not supposed to ask you who you are, who you work for, why you want to know.

There is no reason at all that they need this information

You should really reply staing

This is an FOI enquiry - I do not need to inform you that it is an FOI enquiry and you have 20 working days to comply with my request or I shall then follow the corrwct procedure laid out in Freedom of Infromation rules.

If you have not been trained at present to deal with FOI please pass to the relavent person within your office.

the rules of FOI

they have to play by the rules otherwise they can get into trouble.

They need to make the information as easy to get hold of as possible - if not they get inot trouble.

FOI needs to be answered in writing as does a request for FOI

I agree with different really, i do not think that formula should be demonised at all, and those who ff looked down upon. Imo i dont think these marketing leaflets make a difference, it certainly did not when i had to ff my dd was bf was not working, what did was that dds weight was dropping and pressure from family/MW to put baby on formula because of health reasons.There are women who will ff without giving bf a try and they have made that decision probably before the baby was born. Those who give up bf early are probably under pressure by MW/HV to supplement with formula thus jeapodising bf and lack of bf support in their area, not marketing.

pigletmania - no one is demonising formula. Why is restricting marketing and ensuring that mothers get independent, evidence-based info on formula if they are considering using it?

Clearly, marketing of this sort does make a difference; business does not throw money at marketing which fails to increase sales.

It did not work for you. But it must work for other people.

I am hoping to bf the second time round (expecting dc2 in july) and ahve contacted the NCT which were very helpful, if only the NHS was. Most people know that formula is out there and go into any supermarket/chemist to see what brands there are, i personally dont think there is any difference in formulas, they are all the same except Aptimil is more fishy. I used Aptimil because my SIL did not because of marketing. I personally think that most people throw these leaflets in the bin

When I worked in direct marketing, I measured response and conversion rates for every type of media we used. So, for example, direct mail might get a response rate of say 1-2% (which is really good!), but be expensive to produce, and leaflets ('inserts') would be cheap to produce and get a response rate of a fraction of a percent. TV advertising hugely expensive, but converted well, Newspaper and magazine adverts less expensive etc etc.

I merrily spent obscene amounts of the company's money on campaigns which of course, the majority of people didn't respond to. Why? Because 1. As long as enough people responded the company made money directly, and 2. The brand name was reinforced, time and again by all people who viewed the marketing, which increases sales indirectly.

Did I care that most people binned or ignored our marketing? Course not! Because I could pretty much guarantee that ENOUGH people would respond to make the campaign profitable.

Any campaign which cost too much and converted badly was dropped. You don't spend money flogging a dead horse.

The ONLY reason any commercial company (formula or otherwise) markets to their audience in the way described here - is because they will get proven, measured sales and money from the activity.

Don't kid yourself - this kind of marketing works.

But is the strategy more about encouraging those who decide to FF to choose their particular brand rather than realistically expecting happy BFers to switch to formula?

Thanks, carrot....a good illustration of why an individual's response ('I put it in the bin') says zero about a campaign's effectiveness.

piglet - the fact your SIL used Aptamil may have been a result of marketing. Then you used it. An indirect result

niggle - the campaign will be reaching both those categories of women. Many breastfeeding mothers are not 'happy' and are lacking in confidence. They may well be susceptible to marketing messages which talk about formula being closest to breastmilk and all that sort of stuff.

Whatever.....it's marketing, it is undermining to breastfeeding, and it does not matter that most peope bin it. It works well enough.

IWishIwasMore -- Am wondering whether the Council asked the reason for your complaint to make sure you weren't merely complaining as you are a competitor?

Larger City Councils will have breastfeeding policies as they own premises such as museums, libraries, nurseries etc, not just pools and sports centers.

Also, there are more strict guidelines if you lodge as request as a FOIA, although they may charge for it.

I already had to use formula anyway so it did not make any difference really. My SIL was recommended Aptimil by the midwife at the hospital when she asked her as she had no idea. Whatever marketing i still had to use some type of formula. I agree that it will probably sway those already using formula or have decided that formula is their method of feeding not happily bf mums imo. I would never myself switch to formula if i was sucessfully bf my baby, whatever the marketing.

I complained about this to my council early this year. They got their nose out of joint becaues I would not just 'go away'. they finally said that they would give parents the option if the wanted the rubbish in their folders.

I told them that
a. I find it abhorrent that children to be marketed to the moment left the uterus.

b. that they would never consider similar marketing when handing out death certificates to bereaved families.

c. that I have paid for a service through my council tax and that I have no intention to subsidise the marketing schemes of formula companies.

I know this will be ignored as it dosnt fit the ethos of this site, but if you want to BF then BF. If someone wants to FF then they will an advert isn't going to influence that. Why would you care what choices others make or how they are influenced. I bb my daughter 7 years ago, it was lovely and all that, but chose to formula feed my son this time round....I made my own decision for my own reasons...you people are so dogmatic, and coming across as intolerant.

penny, you're misunderstanding a bit, I think. No one has a problem with people making a free choice to bf or ff.

To sustain the choice to breastfeed is actually quite hard - 9 out of 10 women who stop before their baby is aged 6 weeks wanted to continue, if they could have done. It is very easy for the choice to breastfeed to be undermined and one of the ways this happens is via the marketing of formula milk.

It's not 'dogmatic' to say this. It is not in the least controversial or intolerant to say it.

Plenty of people have their own reasons for formula feeding and that is their business. But it is the business of society to ensure this is a free choice, based on as much information as the mother wants. Advertising and marketing does not fall into this category.

A formula advertising and marketing bonanaza is one of the reasons breastfeeding became a harder choice to make.

Given the public health impact of large numbers of women formula feeding, why would we not think of ways to support breastfeeding?

penny - Also, formula advertising does not provide people with information about formula. It creates brand awareness.

Think about it. Does a washing powder ad actually tell you what's in the powder? That another brand might be better for X fabric or Y stain? No, it just bangs on about how it's the best. Same is true for formula adverts. They don't actually provide any useful information to those trying to choose a formula. They just use made up words like 'immunofortis'.

Added to which, advertising doesn't necessarily change one woman's decision to BF, but it normalises FF and contributes to an attitude in society where my teenage cousin tells me that "BF is yucky and formula is just as good for babies" . It's the cultural influences(tv programmes, etc) and advertising that have taught her that. Her mum breastfed her and is very pro...

Yes Ribena, I see your point about normalising FF and the possiblility that this will sway a struggling BF as Tiktok says. I hadn't thought about it like that. I do get frustrated by the lack of positive BF role models in TV dramas. The prevalence of FF on TV does not reflect the statistics regarding BF mothers - but perhaps that's another thread.