The best nutrition for human infants is breast milk. This should be common knowledge. Nevertheless Breastfeeding Many women do not breastfeed their children, or they breastfeed for less time than their children need.
If you ask mothers why they breastfeed for such a short time or not at all, there are few who do not want to breastfeed from the outset. Around 90% of pregnant women state that they would like to breastfeed their baby after the birth. These Number was published by the Federal Ministry of Food and Consumer Protection. 87% of women breastfeed their baby immediately after birth and by the end of the postpartum period only 57% of women are still breastfeeding. The breastfeeding rate continues to fall dramatically. By the end of the fourth month, only 40% of mothers are still breastfeeding and only 13% of mothers breastfeed their baby exclusively until the end of the sixth month. The WHO recommendation is that babies should be fed exclusively with breast milk until the end of the sixth month.
If you ask the mothers why they abandoned their plans, these are the main reasons for their premature breastfeeding:
- Too little milk
- Pain during breastfeeding
- Chest inflammation
From the mothers' point of view, these are undoubtedly important reasons for their decision.
But is this really the reason for this short duration of breastfeeding?
Does the counselling provided by medical staff or the social environment possibly have an influence on the mothers' decision?
This question comes to mind. After all, it is strange that the well-being of so many infants apparently depends on the possibility that an alternative form of nutrition is possible or within reach.
It has been proven that the infant formula industry and its advertising measures have an influence on breastfeeding behaviour. And the food industry not only has this influence on mothers, but also on the specialised staff who are supposed to support mothers in breastfeeding.
Especially when problems such as pain during breastfeeding are a burden for a young mum, it would be important for the specialist staff to support the mothers without being influenced by the marketing measures of the baby industry.
On 7 February 2023, a Series of studies which makes it very clear that advertising for breast-milk substitutes has a massive influence on the breastfeeding behaviour of mothers.
I'm not surprised, because I've seen for years that mothers are supposedly better informed about bottle feeding than about breastfeeding.
Manufacturers of breast milk substitutes advertise artificial bottle feeds unabashedly. This is despite the fact that the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Breastmilk Code has been calling on countries to ban advertising for infant formula, bottles and teats since 1981. The Code is not a law, but it is an urgent appeal to governments to create legal instruments that can adequately protect consumers (as mothers and babies). As early as 2005, more than 60 countries, including the EU member states, implemented this code into legal measures. And yet the Code has not been able to develop its full impact.
You might think that this is only a problem in countries where poor hygiene conditions or socio-economic reasons are responsible for the fact that infant formula cannot be prepared properly. But this is not the case. Ineffective breastfeeding (i.e. breastfeeding for too short a time) also jeopardises the health of mothers and children in industrialised nations. As early as 2016, a Study on the effects of short or suboptimal breastfeeding on healthcare costs in the USA.
In 2022, the WHO and Unicef renewed the Report The medical professionals and the parents have also made their demand for a permanent ban on advertising about the negative effects of advertising and lobbying.
Now the renowned medical journal "The Lancet" has published a new series of studies ("Lancet Breastfeeding Series") on the subject of breastfeeding and breast milk substitutes.
It comes to the conclusion that the consumption of artificial baby milk has increased massively around the world due to decades of aggressive advertising by manufacturers. Only just under half of all children are still fully breastfed for at least six months in accordance with WHO recommendations. Mothers who allow their children to partially breastfeed beyond their second birthday are stigmatised. Yet this is exactly what the WHO recommends.
The manufacturers of ready-made infant formula have played their part in this. They successfully advertise their infant formula. The advertising budgets of infant formula manufacturers have increased by 164 per cent in the last ten years. At the same time, the industry has more than doubled its sales of breast milk substitutes worldwide between 2005 and 2019: they have risen from 1 to 2.2 million tonnes per year! At the same time, babies and children are being given more artificial bottle feeds than ever before.
Why is advertising for artificial baby milk so bad?
It has been scientifically proven that breast milk is the healthiest food for babies and has a positive effect on a person's long-term health development. Despite this, manufacturers of artificial baby milk also engage in misleading advertising for their product. For example, they advertise it as "particularly beneficial to health and immunity", thereby manipulating parents in a targeted manner. The Lancet states: "For decades, the commercial formula milk industry has used marketing strategies to exploit parents' fears and concerns, turning infant and young child feeding into a billion-dollar business." According to the study, this business generates revenues of around 55 billion dollars every year.
In order to protect mothers and babies from being influenced by such marketing activities, the World Health Organisation's International Breastmilk Code has prohibited all advertising for all breastmilk substitutes for infants since 1981. Advertising activities and benefits for healthcare personnel are also prohibited. "But even after more than 40 years, not a single manufacturer fully adheres to these guidelines," criticises the Initiative for a transparent civil society.
If insecure mothers then prefer to believe the manufacturer's messages (e.g. "strengthens your little one's immune system!") and instead of breastfeeding their children reach for powdered milk and bottles, this can have fatal consequences for the babies in the worst case. Why? Because powdered milk for babies must be mixed with clean drinking water - but two million people worldwide have no access to clean drinking water at all! According to scientific findings, hundreds of thousands of children around the world die every year as a result of contaminated bottle feeding. This is because in many cases it leads to diarrhoea - which is the second most common infectious cause of death among the youngest children worldwide.
Does this also apply to industrialised nations? The fact that infant formula needs sufficient hygienic conditions is only one aspect. The protective factors of breast milk against infections, autoimmune diseases or even cancer, among other things, are aspects that also play a decisive role and affect all people, regardless of their social and societal background.
This does not seem to shake large corporations like Nestlé. They simply continue to use sophisticated strategies to influence parents, political decision-makers and healthcare professionals. This is demonstrated by the authors of the "Lancet Breastfeeding Series". They also shed light on how commercial manufacturers use successful lobbying to expand their economic leeway and prevent effective legal regulation of milk powder advertising.
This is why "Action against Hunger" has also launched the campaign "Nestlé: Stop your advertising for baby milk!" started. If you wish, you can support it with your signature.
With my online midwifery help I support mothers who have worries and problems about breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding is no longer a matter of course. It is therefore important that pregnant women also prepare themselves for breastfeeding. This is because they will also come across information and tips from medical professionals that are characterised by the advertising promises of the infant formula industry. This may not be a satisfying realisation. But it also shows that it is important for parents to be able to make informed decisions for their baby and this includes deciding how to feed their little one. The Online breastfeeding course by midwife Katharina has the advantage that it is good for preparing for breastfeeding, but also answers the questions that will arise during breastfeeding. With it, mothers become experts in breastfeeding and the healthy nutrition of their children.
Please do not misunderstand: Bottle feeding is also okay if needed!
Why I am against Advertising for breastmilk substitutes, I am sure you have understood. I am also in favour of the ban on advertising being unequivocally enshrined in national laws worldwide in accordance with the WHO Breastmilk Code.
But that doesn't mean that I have anything against breastmilk substitutes per se. On the contrary! There are many mothers who, for very different reasons, cannot or do not want to breastfeed at all or breastfeed for less time than the WHO recommends. I can only say that in all these cases, bottle feeding is a blessing!
However, my aim is to break down breastfeeding barriers, promote breastfeeding and provide information about the positive effects of breastfeeding for the child and the mother. That's exactly why I get so annoyed when this information is withheld from mothers or even false information is spread - including through advertising for substitute products.
After all, breast milk remains the only natural formula for babies. It meets the baby's needs perfectly.
The beginnings of artificial baby milk
The German chemist and university professor Justus Liebig developed the first ready-made food for babies in 1865. It was initially a liquid "soup for infants", followed a little later by powdered "infant cereal" - and soon became a bestseller. At the time, this milk formula replaced inadequate infant nutrition for children who could not be breastfed.
Then came Heinrich Nestle (1814 - 1890). Born in Frankfurt, the pharmacy assistant went to Switzerland after his apprenticeship, now calling himself Henri Nestlé, where he founded the future global company of the same name in 1866. He modified Liebig's recipe and successfully launched the soluble milk powder on the market under his own name as a breast milk substitute. However, it was not grocers but pharmacists and doctors who sold the tins.
Henri Nestlé sold his company in 1875 and retired. At that time, over one million cans were already being produced each year and sold in 18 countries on five continents.
Gradually, other manufacturers and researchers also turned their attention to Instand cow's milk, and in some cases enzymes were added to make it easier to digest.
From the very beginning until today, the finished preparations must be prepared with hygienically safe drinking water. All manufacturers point this out. However, in many places this information is of no use if there is no clean drinking water available.
