juno midwives

No sooner than the end of breastfeeding week did we see the true nature of the politics of breastfeeding. Whilst our instagram feeds were filled with pictures of famous pop stars breastfeeding and health services were busy promoting the wonders of skin to skin and the benefits of breastfeeding, the seedy nature of corporate conglomerates were hard at work undermining the international effort to promote breastfeeding.

It was no surprise to me when I scrolled through the BBC news app this week, that I came across this headline; “Boots infant formula adverts broke rules – watchdog”. Deeply concerning to see this emerge, it is not the first such headline over the years and it won’t be the last. What is more alarming is that it is not until you read the article that you see another high street store, this time Iceland, getting in on the act. According to this BBC article Iceland is calling for changes to laws on formula milk advertising. Utilising the current vulnerabilities for many families brought on by the cost of living crisis, it claims that many people who have to use formula are unfairly disadvantaged by the cost of infant formula in this current climate. In this instance we need to consider who actually sets these prices in the first place!

So what do the current laws say? In the UK the law prohibits advertising and promotion of infant formula that is marketed for use from birth. It is worth noting that ‘follow on milk’ and ‘specialist milks’ are not under these same regulations despite their unsubstantiated scientific claims that they offer benefits to babies’ health and neurological development.

It is these claims that really highlight the importance of this issue. Whilst profit is prioritised over people, society continues to be influenced by advertising that undermines women’s abilities to breastfeed and degrades the value of breastfeeding. We see this in the lack of funding for community based breastfeeding support, which relies heavily on volunteers and acts of kindness. Employment laws are not well enforced and we see many women struggling to maintain breastfeeding on their return to work. Hospital staff are not adequately trained to support women to breastfeed when they birth their babies and the medical model has historically been heavily influenced by the lobbying of the formula industry. Essentially, breastfeeding is bad for business. And the infant formula industry is BIG business! “The global baby food market size was estimated at USD 83.92 billion in 2022 and is expected to hit around USD 155.32 billion by 2032” (Prescedence Research, 2023). The hold this business has on society can be seen in poor breastfeeding rates worldwide despite the overwhelming evidence of the social, environmental and health benefits of breastfeeding.

I write this mainly out of frustration that we are still here and discussing this in 2023. But people need to be made aware. A new generation of mothers and children are being born as I write this. My local hospital trust (East Kent) recently reported that in July only 68% of babies had breast milk as their first feed. This is not the lowest but I am yet to see the 70% mark breached at this trust. That is despite them having a brilliant breastfeeding support team in house on their postnatal ward. They are not alone as the average initiation rate recorded by Public Health England, was only 71% in 2020/21. This figure sharply drops at 6-8 weeks with only 49% of babies still breastfeeding at this age.

What has always been clear to me is that there are bigger players at work here. To truly understand the scale of the problem and the impact of targeted advertising we need to look back in time and reflect on society’s often negative perception of breastfeeding, women’s bodies and the milk they make. Addressing this issue must come from all corners of society. Advertising ultimately influences our behaviour. That’s why it matters. Undermining women’s belief in their abilities to breastfeed is harmful to individual mothers and babies and to society as a whole.

My recommendations to get clued up…

For bookworms, read The Politics of Breastfeeding by Gabrielle Palmer.

For the science geek, access The Lancet’s latest series on Breastfeeding published Feb 2023. [Open Access]

For a passionate podcast to incense you, listen to The Midwives’ Cauldron – The unbelievable tactics of the formula industry.