Will They Listen?
An Advocacy Story
{This is a long post - here’s the link to the open letter you can sign at the end: https://bit.ly/predatory_letter}
We live in a world where it is increasingly easy to mislead people.
We are people who do a job (the promotion and support of breastfeeding) which can only be described as nuanced and delicate.
Therefore, we are often going to find that companies whose bottom lines would benefit from lower breastfeeding rates are working hard to mislead people who could choose to breastfeed.
Early in my career when I was working as a hospital-based IBCLC, my head was down and I was deep in the work of caring for the patients in front of me each day.
I would sometimes see articles or hear about things that were related to policy or advocacy and think “Someday maybe I’ll have the time to get involved with that.”
I felt like getting involved in any capacity would be very challenging and that I would not be comfortable signing something or advocating for something unless I had tons of time to research it and make sure it was something I could put my name behind.
I felt like I needed to just do my job and trust that there were other (awesome) people out there in the world doing the advocacy stuff.
2 things transformed me:
a) attending the California Breastfeeding Summit
b) being reminded of my purpose and mission (my Why Did I Become an IBCLC story)
The California Breastfeeding Summit is an annual gathering here in the Golden State which brings together clinicians, researchers, breastfeeding data wonks, advocates, and every type of lactation supporter you can think of.
It is hosted by the incredible California Breastfeeding Coalition.
These summits are 3 days of learning, sharing, networking, and inspiration that re-kindle the fire within all of us for the work we do on behalf of the Californians we serve.
It’s a proud, exciting, amazing time of year when we get together (in person or virtually) every January.
For me, it has been a fantastic way to see what advocacy looks like in action, to witness and meet the actual humans who do the work, and to understand that I could and would become the advocate I am today.
Part of that involves trust - there it is again - and using critical reasoning to find the credibility in those who bring me the issues and the opportunities to put my name behind.
I believe in the mission of the California Breastfeeding Coalition, and I trust them to put important messages in front of me so that I can participate in the important conversations which are happening to and around lactation.
I trust them because I know that if I disagree, I can look them in the eye and say “Please hold on a minute here, let’s talk about this some more” and I will be heard.
Going to the Summit has been instrumental for me in my career, and on top of that, there’s more to the story of how I shifted my gaze outward from the consult room toward bigger conversations.
I remembered why I do this in the first place.
Unlike many lactation consultants, I did not become an IBCLC because I had a difficult breastfeeding experience.
In fact, I had very good breastfeeding experiences.
I should say - the ones which weren’t sabotaged by formula marketing were good.
When I learned about predatory formula marketing and it dawned on me that it caught me in its web of lies, I was angry.
I still get angry about it.
Nobody likes to admit that they were fooled or taken advantage of.
But I’m telling you right now: that happened to me.
I was young, naive, and seeking information in the best ways I knew how at the time.
Formula marketing worked its sneaky charms on me and on all the health care professionals who cared for me, leading me to believe that breastfeeding and formula feeding were equal, that feeding choice is neutral, and that I “should not feel guilty” about formula feeding.
They did not say that I should not feel guilty if I chose to breastfeed.
No one ever said that.
So I did what I did and I didn’t feel guilty.
I combo fed from Day One of my first daughter’s life, and when my milk production was just about gone by 4 months, I weaned her to full formula for the rest of her first year.
It wasn’t a struggle; it didn’t feel difficult. I spent almost no time thinking about it until I became pregnant with my second baby.
You see, it took a few years for me to understand that no one can make another person feel guilty and that no one should be telling other people to feel any emotion anyway.
It took those years to understand even the basics of the psychology of marketing and that even if I thought I was smart, “they” were much smarter.
It took an IBCLC explaining to me that I had been tricked for me to understand the reality of my first feeding journey.
When it all became clear to me, I realized that it (predatory formula marketing as a practice) was a “wrong” that I needed to work to right.
That’s why I became an IBCLC, and that’s why I continue to work every day in all the ways I can to ensure that parents are met with objective and safe information about feeding their babies.
I work just as hard to understand the details of how to teach safe formula feeding as I do how to teach folks how to breastfeed.
It’s a social justice issue for me.
That’s why when I saw that this group of people I never heard of in my life were hosting a meeting about advocacy and formula marketing and running social media campaigns - I HAD to find out what was going on.
I had to vet them.
I had to be at that table and understand their motives, their plans, and their willingness to listen and respect other voices.
I signed up, I showed up, and I got what I needed.
I followed their newsletter for a long time, paid attention to their messages, found some with which I agreed and others which were not aligned with my feelings, and discovered women who were ready to listen and ready to put their own skillsets to work on behalf of others.
This group, the
is doing strong work in the area of advocacy for breastfeeding and against predatory formula marketing.And they listen to us.
They’re not trained in lactation care, and they know they need us because it’s not the kind of work anyone should be doing alone.
I spoke at their recent meeting about my experience having been a victim of predatory formula marketing, and, surrounded (virtually on Zoom) by a roomful of impactful people in the lactation world, I cried.
I get emotional when I think about the origin of why I became an IBCLC.
Part of that is because there is still SO MUCH WORK to be done.
But it was also emotional because there were so many people there who are ready to join the fight against predatory formula marketing.
It’s incredible to feel like our “team” is growing.
You’re invited, too. Here’s how you can participate.
Did you know that Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, Threads, WhatsApp, and other lesser-known platforms restricts the promotion of certain goods and services?
Some types of content are banned completely, while others are “restricted” to visibility by adults 18 years and older.
Here’s the breakdown of their current policy as of Sept 27, 2024.
If you happen to come across content that you feel violates their policy, they make it relatively simple to report it so that it can potentially be removed or restricted.
Why This Matters:
We are combining efforts to end predatory formula marketing (i.e. Bobbie) with a major focus this year on removing the ability for influencers to profit off partnering with and promoting formula companies.
The plan is to gather a collective of medical professionals to sign an open letter that will be presented to the Meta Oversight Board (the “Supreme Court” of Facebook and Instagram) and encourage them to ban this marketing and misinformation just like they ban the promotion of vaping, tobacco products, alcohol, weapons etc. on their platforms.
Does that make sense to you?
If it does, here’s the open letter you can sign: https://bit.ly/predatory_letter.
Want to share it with absolutely everyone you know who works in birth and lactation? PLEASE DO.
Need to talk more about it before you write your name on it?
Hit Reply to this email and I’ll be happy to chat with you.
This is so important to me and I would LOVE to discuss it with you, however you feel.
Warmly, and in solidarity,
