This is something that I first read a while back on the Nourri-Source website, (a good breastfeeding resource/support for Quebec mothers), but it is Dr. Jack Newman’s book The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers that really got me thinking. Over 20 years ago, the World Health Organization published the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. It forbids any advertising for formula (like the one we see in numerous baby magazines), direct marketing to mothers (like the one done at baby shows), the donation of samples (by the manufacturer or through doctor offices), sales on formula (hu-hum, I guess the corner drugstore is not aware of this), etc. Every year or two, the code gets updated.
I can’t help but think that if this code was really implemented and monitored by all the countries that signed it (Canada is one of them, by the way), Facebook would not have a problem with the decency of a partly uncovered breast, as breastfeeding would naturally be THE culturally accepted way to feed an infant.
To learn more about the monitoring of the Code in Canada, visit Infact’s website. Elsewhere in the world, IBFAN.
Pour lire le code en français, cliquez ici.
