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When we were expecting parents, attending our birthing classes, one night was dedicated to breastfeeding, and taught by a lactation consultant, basically a nurs
by teilo 16y ago
When we were expecting parents, attending our birthing classes, one night was dedicated to breastfeeding, and taught by a lactation consultant, basically a nurse specializing in breastfeeding.
She told a story about Nestle and the third world that was rather chilling:
The company, at some point, donated a large amount of formula to some third world country or other. (Sorry, it's been 15 years, so the details are sketchy). Short story: they convinced a lot of very poor women to use the formula. There was enough formula to last until their own breastmilk dried up. Nestle didn't send any more, and these women had no means to get more, and now, no breastmilk either. Lots of babies died.
- dgrant 16y agoNot that I don't believe the story but it would be great to have a link to this to read more about it. I googled for a bit but couldn't find anything.
- sstrudeau 16y agoThis would seem to be a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott
- dgrant 16y agoThere is mention of accusations of Nestle giving away free powder for a limited time, but no specific story and Nestle denies the allegations. Why would someone accept free formula over free breast milk? No one would be dumb enough to think that the free formula would last forever. While I don't deny that Nestle gave out free formula, I'm not convinced that new mothers switched to it en masse only to later realize (after their breast milk stopped flowing) that they'd have to pay to get more.