Mumsnet promotions, conflict of interests, the WHO code etc

[DonnatellaLyman]

I’m really concerned about a couple of the pinned promotional threads. There was one from a bottle manufacturer claiming to offer ‘feeding advice’ - a clear violation of the WHO code. Now there is one from a midwifery service claiming they can ‘alleviate worries’.

I have real concerns mothers with symptoms that need investigation will be falsely reassured. I’d like to know what vetting process MNHQ have around these partnerships, they seems contrary to your published ad standards.

Hi

Thanks for all your feedback and thoughts on the midwifery app and on the feeding bottles promo activity.

As the long-timers among you will know we try at MNHQ to stay true to our fundamental mission to make parents’ lives easier. Over the years it’s been obvious that many, many mothers struggle with breastfeeding (through no fault of their own) - we’ve done surveys and campaigning activity around this and we have the stats to show how many MNers want to breastfeed but end up using bottles and (often) formula of some kind (and end up feeling pretty bad about it).

We know from conversations on MN and from our surveys that a lot of this comes down to inadequate breastfeeding support and insufficient information in the very early days with a newborn.

We campaign for more support, and we always make it an ask when we’re talking to politicians and government about the ‘Mumsnet agenda’. We don’t and never have taken any ads for formula milk (and turned down lots of revenue, a hit we’ve been happy to take because we understand the strength of feeling about exploitative marketing practices, particularly in developing nations). Just this week we’ve been featured in the media for pushing back on Facebook’s decision not to show an ad that shows lactating breasts and breastfeeding in all their real-life glory.

But at the same time, we want to be inclusive and supportive of people's choices and not make value judgements. Another thing we know from many, many MN discussions is how many parents who use bottles and formula feel deeply stigmatised by some of the outputs of the WHO Code - things such as being told in Boots that you can’t get Advantage Points when you’re buying formula, or being told that to even host an advertisement about bottles or teats is somehow fundamentally indecent. Frankly, we just don’t agree that it is indecent. We think it’s important both to show that we understand and include parents who use bottles and formula, and to treat them just as we would any other feeding parent.

This is one reason we’ve had a bottle in our logo since 2005 - it wasn’t universally popular then, and it isn’t universally popular now. But as (again) the long-timers among you will know, apparently universal popularity isn’t one of our aims.