- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Austin Babies
The Problems with M e d e l a?
Anyone else read any of the anti-M e d e l a articles that seem to come out recently? Or maybe I'm just seeing them for the first time. Here's one that came up on my FB feed from kellymom
I'm shocked, well not totally shocked I mean M e d e l a is a for-profit corporation. but I mean I would think breastfeeding companies would stick together. And I mean I love my PISA and I've used so many other M e d e l a products (hello sore nipple shields that saved my life!), its hard to just change my opinion of them so fast. Anyone else have opinions, thoughts?
ETA: I just updated this so it wouldn't come up in searches....
This discussion has been closed.
Re: The Problems with M e d e l a?
Links please? I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I'm not pumping anymore but I'm curious.
It's above but here it is again: https://justwestofcrunchy.com/2011/01/19/the-problems-with-medela/
another one I read linked in the above one is:
https://dou-la-la.blogspot.com/2010/02/ready-set-suck-on-medelas-who.html
I'm an idiot! Sorry. Just got up. Emily woke up around 4:30, back down around 6 and Abby woke up at 7 and told me she wet the bed. UHHHGGG.
Very interesting articles. I want to think about it before I respond. I will say however that ANY company can be made to look bad with good writing.
I'm confused. They are violating the code because they promote their bottles?
The code doesn't make sense, anyway. It says health workers shouldn't give out samples to new mothers and pregnant women....pediatricians and hospitals give out all sorts of samples. Which I think is awesome, btw. My pediatrician would give me whole cans of sample formula. I'd also take sample birth control from my OBGYN. I love me some samples
The O'Baby Blog
I don't think I agree with the WHO code in the first place. What's the harm in advertising the bottles? There are many reasons why I chose to BF, but if a woman wants to pump and bottle feed, or *GASP* FF from the beginning, who am I to stop her? She's gonna need some bottles to do it. We used bottles from the beginning so that DH could take a feeding at night so I could get some sleep. My DD goes from breast to bottle to paci and back just fine. And, yeah, M is a company, of course its going to want to advertise its products. Duh.
Is there a study that shows that FF babies are less healthy than BF babies? Not that shows that the composition of BF is better, but that the results in the children are significantly different? I haven't seen one, and until I do, I fully support a woman's choice to FF.
I also don't agree that open system pumps are inherently dangerous for a second user. The article references a study done on potential milk donors, but here is the difference: the milk that could be in a used pump is dry and old. From what I understand, viruses can't just sit for months or years alone and live and spread. They have to have a host. I don't think I can just put some HIV on a table and walk away for 3 months and then come back and collect it and spread it to people.
I still heart M.
I remember hearing about this when I became super gung-ho about BF (just about three years ago now- it wasn't instantly after H was born). I do have strong opinions about BF, and I do have strong opinions about the WHO Code (strongly in favour, in both cases) which I will leave out of this post but overall I dislike Medela as a company but I love their products.
I feel like by not following the code they are half-assedly supporting mamas and babes. However, their new bottle/nipple design is far better than their old one.
I'm terrible at boycotting though- I accidentally bought not one, but TWO Nestle products this month and they both say Nestle in big letters on the packages so it's not like they're a hidden brand or something.
I *think* the point of the WHO code has more to do with studies that show formula samples (and maybe bottles too?) statistically lead to less success at breastfeeding. Also the WHO code isn't targetting formula its targetting how its marketed. The point being that WHO doesn't want formula marketing (samples, advertising...) to discourage women from breastfeeding.
I guess I didn't see it as an attack on FF-ing. But I realize that its a senstive topic, so I apologize if anyone felt attacked by my posting this. I just was curious what others thought of what Medela was doing.
hehe no worries! :-)
I have definitely seen the articles etc about how giving formula samples at the hospital greatly lower the rates of successful BFing. And that mothers on the higher end of the socio-economic scale are most likely to BF etc. I get that, really I do.
But, I'd have trouble telling a company that makes breast pumps to not provide bottles to new mothers. Of course it is a marketing ploy, but really, the only way pumped milk is going to get to the baby is through a....bottle!
And I really think that the 1st article you attached weakens its argument by talking about how inferior a product M pumps are. It comes off as rambling and indicates that its main argument - that M should be boycotted because of its violation of the WHO codes - is not strong enough on its own.
6-yr-old Elena and 4-yr-old Julia.
My Blog! All about my girls and quilting
Oh, Michelle, I hope you don't think I was upset. I was just discussing the Code itself. Thanks for linking the article, I didn't even know the code existed.
I guess my point was that, even to the extent it does lead to more FF, I don't see why that's inherently bad. I haven't seen a study that says that the result of FF babies is that they are less healthy or smart, etc.
Yeah I think it makes sense that they have bottles, I just think they don't need to advertise the bottles, seems like they'd sell enough on their own and they could still comply with the code. But I guess profits trump code, which is the sad part for me.
I hadn't thought of that when I read it, but now that you say that I totally agree.
Oh good. I didn't want to upset anyone!
I think that the WHO code is more important in developing countries where women do not always have access to clean water to mix the formula. If a woman is using contaminated water to mix formula, obviously that's a problem.