The What, the Why and the How of The Who…
21 May 2021Meet Breastival Founder Dr. Jennifer Hanratty
Trust and Baby Formula
Why ethical sponsorship is important.
What’s all the fuss about a heritage organisation and a baby food company partnering up?
We’ll not link to the sites, they’re already receiving a lot of exposure to new parents, we’re not giving them more exposure for free. Recently a trust with…national reach announced a partnership with a baby food company and if you join the company’s “baby club” you get discounted membership.
So – you’re all angry about saving parents money? Wise yer bap. What’s your problem with baby clubs?
Well on the surface there is no problem, this is just a “club” for new parents with discounts and a bit of advice. But it’s not really for parents, it’s a recognised marketing tool. The deals and offers all point parents to brands to build brand loyalty and ultimately make them money. And the advice can often undermine parents’ trust in their ability to parent without buying, what is often, unnecessary shizzle. Advertising methods like lists of “baby essentials” might appear to be helpful tips but most parents will tell you they wasted money on a bunch of “essentials” before the baby was born that are now left unused. My list includes disposable pants and pads, expensive bottle kits, breast pumps, expensive cot (neither of my babies slept in cots and caused a lot of stress trying to get them too), fancy branded pram, developmental toys, and a ton of other stuff. When a baby club is connected to a brand, the purpose is usually to encourage new parents to buy stuff.
And then the advice is subtle in undermining parents. Let’s have a look at some of the advice on breastfeeding. Here’s an example:
“your breastmilk contains all the nutrients your baby needs for the first few months of life… . To make sure your milk is nutritious and plentiful, it’s important to eat a healthy, balanced diet while breastfeeding and drink plenty of water.”
Sounds ok? But its not. It implies that breastmilk is only useful for a few months when in fact your milk is amazing and remains amazing for as long as you want to feed your kid, well into toddlerhood and beyond. Babies will start to add solid food into their diets from around 6 months – that is in addition to milk not replacing it.
And did you clock the subtle perfect mommy eating a healthy diet comment? Breastfeeding DOES NOT require a healthy diet and oceans of water. Sure, we’re all better off if we eat healthy and drink water instead of mainlining espresso and surviving on sweets and curry chips (I cannot confirm nor deny that this is my preferred diet). The point is breastfeeding doesn’t require you to eat any better than anyone else. Nor do you have to totally abstain from coffee, booze or whatever else you enjoy unless your baby has a specific allergy (and if you suspect an allergy get advice from a dietician with an understanding of lactation before you start experimenting with your own diet). Bottom line is that, like most businesses, formula companies’ primary objective is to sell as much product, for as much profit, as possible.
Hmm ok you might have a point there. So, why do baby food companies talk about breastmilk anyway? Or run Baby clubs?
The WHO code on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes (catchy title right?) aims to support families by 1. Limiting the marketing of formula and baby foods that undermines women’s choice to breastfeed and 2. Protects families who have to or choose to use formula from unsubstantiated claims about the “benefits” of different ingredients. In the UK all formula milks have to have the ingredients deemed essential, so they are all basically the same. But companies can add whatever other stuff they want so they can make extra marketing claims and essentially test new ingredients on newborns without parents knowledge or consent. Surprisingly under regulated no?
So where do baby clubs come in?
Well the rules prevent marketing of formula milks and baby food directed at infants under 6 months old. The rules should be extended to protect families for longer but lobbying by some global companies with lots of money to spend has kept the rules weak for too long. Anyway I digress, baby clubs get around the current (incredibly weak) rules by encouraging parents to join before their baby is born. You’ll notice that they don’t (or shouldn’t) market first milks but that doesn’t stop them marketing other branded stuff to you, like follow-on milks or baby foods that might be harmful if given to babies too early. And you’ll notice that all the branding is really similar to stage one milks. So if you have a nice feeling about a baby club because you got some support or discounts, you may be more likely to recognise and choose that brand if you are buying formula. And the extra kicker is that we can be especially vulnerable to these tricks when we’re stressed. Say, if breastfeeding is harder than you expected and some well meaning friend has suggested you just give a bottle and you’re upset and feeling all the feelings. You may not have the wherewithal to stand in the baby isle and rationally analyse the cost of different brands. You’ll pick the one that feels right. And that’s why some branded baby clubs want to make parents feel good.
Wow, OK. What’s follow-on milk? When do I need to move on to follow-on?
Follow-on milk is a product specifically made up to get around the marketing rules. Let that sink in. It only exists to get around the laws that are there to protect families and babies from predatory marketing.
It used to be that there was just formula. And babies fed formula or a combination of mum’s milk and formula would have the same one till they were 1 then bottles would be replaced with real food. But if a formula is suitable for newborns and 12 month olds the rules would stop that from being marketed. So… Hey Presto! A new product called “follow-on” milks that are sold as suitable from 6 months. And ta-da those can be marketed without breaking the letter of the law. And bonus cash for the companies, they created a whole new market for toddler milks so parents think they need to keep buying formula for older kids when previously they would have stopped shelling out for formula when baby was around 1 year old and move to cows’ milk or ditch bottles all together.
Wow so it’s not a coincidence that that’s the age when the rules don’t protect babies and families from marketing anymore?
Sneaky right? Don’t even get me started on what companies do in countries with even weaker regulation than we have here. targeting marginalized and disadvantaged families (Check out the Don’t Push it report, and information on the movie Tigers here ), .
And if you ask most people before they have a baby how long they plan to breastfeed I’ll bet most will say around 6 months. Because the subtle marketing implies that by 6 months you need to “move on”. As if there’s anything better than breastmilk that you could move on to! There isn’t. Human milk is just such stupendous stuff, it’s alive, it changes to meet your child’s needs, it’s free and has zero food miles there’s no comparison with manufactured milks. That’s not to say that it’s always easy for Mums – making milk is a skill to be learned and it doesn’t come easily. It takes skilled support and time. Just like parenting really – it’s something we have to learn and get help with, usually from people who’ve done it themselves. But breastfeeding usually gets easier and once you’ve got past that steep learning curve and ironed out any problems it’s generally a lovely experience and one that will be treasured for a lifetime.
At least a partnership like this is good for the environment – more trees right?
Well sort of. They have been accused of greenwashing – where a company associates itself with pro-environment stuff while simultaneously profiting from activities that are bad for the environment. Making formula takes a lot of work, a lot of milk from a lot of cows, a lot of trees and hedgerows destroyed to make more farmland, a lot of lorries moving that milk, a lot of factories manufacturing the infant formula from that milk, a lot of lorries transporting that formula to shops, you get the idea. Obviously some families rely on formula so it’s not about making individual families feel bad – far from it, we all buy stuff that has an environmental impact. The point is that an industry that makes and markets unnecessary products, like follow-on milks and other ultra processed baby foods aren’t really doing their best for the environment. Which is why so many people are disappointed that a trusted brand, that works to protect natural habitats and green spaces for families to enjoy, has associated itself with this industry.
Maybe they’ll rethink.
If you have felt inspired by this post, you might consider donating to the Milk Trees campaign – a project aiming to not only plant trees to offset the carbon footprint go Hearts Milk Banks, but also to provide community accessible spaces as tributes to their amazing Milk Donors and offer wood-based training and education so the next generation can engage with issues around sustainability, early years, and just having fun in beautiful woods. To Donate your support click here.
We stand alongside the Milk Woods team in their hopes that the Trust will reconsider their plans, and engage with the Human Milk Foundation instead to make sure that all trees that go into the ground are funded ethically.
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Where can you find support?