Breast Feeding Extremism and Corporate Political Power

In this article, it sounds like the original ads promoting breast feeding contained some fairly extreme images. Women and families should have accurate information about the benefits of breast feeding--but they should also be free from the extreme guilt that so many La Leche League types proliferate. If a woman or her child experiences trouble when trying to establish a healthy breast feeding habit, postpartum is no time for mommy to be worrying about all the negative pressure that certain segments of society apply to this issue. Mommy and family should have the facts about the benefits of breast feeding and the, relatively low, risks of not doing so. The rest of us should shut the hell up, support and let mommy decide for herself what she and her baby are going to do about meal time.

Just as important, this article talks about another example of just how corrupt our government has become and how the power of corporate lobbying fucks up so much of what we call our American Democracy. Is it really that important for a government agency to change it's approach to a public health education campaign so that the sales of infant formula do not drop? If the original ads had run, would the economy have toppled? Maybe the formula companies would have defaulted on their mortgages and the entire world market gone down the drain? Maybe this wouldn't be so bad either.

HHS Toned Down Breast-Feeding Ads - washingtonpost.com

UPDATE: Here are the ads before and after the corporate lobbying efforts and an excerpt from the lobbyist letter:



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/08/31/GR2007083100089.html