This afternoon I was talking to a friend of mine about breastfeeding and professional advice and she shared some tales from her former life as a young child-free pharmacy assistant. What I learned from her was truly shocking, particularly given that most Australians feel they can get reliable information, which will aid their health, when they seek it from people working within pharmacies. I urged her to write about her experiences on her blog. She has graciously allowed me to reproduce the post here:
Professional advice?
From age 18-25 I was a Pharmacy Assistant. I know, it's ironic right? I sold an awful lot of vaccines and disposable nappies among other things, but guess what was one of our top sellers? Artificial baby milk (ABM). We used to buy that shit in by the pallet load and sell it cheaper than the supermarket.
In one chemist I worked in we had the ABM right next to where the baby nurse used to weigh babies. There were loyalty cards (not sure they are still allowed) where the 7th tin was free and promotions where you could win children's big ticket toys by buying the ABM and entering into a draw. We had bags with logos on them and kids toys with embroidered slogans.
So with all of that ABM on hand do you want to know how much information I was given in EIGHT years (one of which I was a manager)about breastfeeding or the risks of ABM?
NONE. Exactly none.
I was, however, given plenty of information from the ABM companies about things in their product that made it "like" mothers milk or why it was better than other brands. I was taken out to lunch and given buying deals so we could sell the ABM cheaply-as long as we had so many facings of the cans.
Think about that.
Then think about where you think one of the first places a Mama goes at 5pm when they have a baby that won't settle and they are needing reassurance or advice. The friendly local pharmacy. Complete with fantastic staff-that are trained by ABM companies. Often staff are not yet mothers or fathers or from a generation or so ago when the risks of ABM were just not known. They might even have a couple of kids who are ABM fed and "just fine". I personally put the first nail in the coffin of the breastfeeding relationship of a lot of Mamas and babies by suggesting comp feeds and pointing out the benefits of certain brands to unsure women. As I was trained to do.
It seems to me that there is a big hole in breastfeeding education here. There are a big group of professionals who are handing out advice with perhaps no idea of the risk. Pharmacies are treated as a retail outlet but there is a big difference between taking a can off the shelf of a supermarket and asking a pharmacy assistant for advice. Because you expect the advice on the long term feeding of your child to be what is best for your baby-not a sales pitch.
From: http://yayforhome.blogspot.com/2010/07/professional-advice.html
In one chemist I worked in we had the ABM right next to where the baby nurse used to weigh babies. There were loyalty cards (not sure they are still allowed) where the 7th tin was free and promotions where you could win children's big ticket toys by buying the ABM and entering into a draw. We had bags with logos on them and kids toys with embroidered slogans.
So with all of that ABM on hand do you want to know how much information I was given in EIGHT years (one of which I was a manager)about breastfeeding or the risks of ABM?
NONE. Exactly none.
I was, however, given plenty of information from the ABM companies about things in their product that made it "like" mothers milk or why it was better than other brands. I was taken out to lunch and given buying deals so we could sell the ABM cheaply-as long as we had so many facings of the cans.
Think about that.
Then think about where you think one of the first places a Mama goes at 5pm when they have a baby that won't settle and they are needing reassurance or advice. The friendly local pharmacy. Complete with fantastic staff-that are trained by ABM companies. Often staff are not yet mothers or fathers or from a generation or so ago when the risks of ABM were just not known. They might even have a couple of kids who are ABM fed and "just fine". I personally put the first nail in the coffin of the breastfeeding relationship of a lot of Mamas and babies by suggesting comp feeds and pointing out the benefits of certain brands to unsure women. As I was trained to do.
It seems to me that there is a big hole in breastfeeding education here. There are a big group of professionals who are handing out advice with perhaps no idea of the risk. Pharmacies are treated as a retail outlet but there is a big difference between taking a can off the shelf of a supermarket and asking a pharmacy assistant for advice. Because you expect the advice on the long term feeding of your child to be what is best for your baby-not a sales pitch.
From: http://yayforhome.blogspot.com/2010/07/professional-advice.html
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