Formula Companies Are Fighting Maternity Leave

by Christy Yao Pelliccioni

—

As I write this, it’s World Breastfeeding Week, and the Facebook algorithm is really winning at capturing my attention. While scrolling (if I remember right, while breastfeeding), I came across a post claiming that formula companies had lobbied against paid parental leave. I thought that couldn’t be true, so of course subjected this incredible claim to a Google search. To my surprise, a 2023 The Lancet series on breastfeeding confirms this. 

In February of 2023, exactly a year after I had to leave my 8-week-old to return to work and scrounge around for spaces to pump, The Lancet published a three-part series on breastfeeding. Much of the series focused on the predatory practices of the formula industry, and the importance of maternity leave. In fact, they titled their introductory editorial for the series, “Unveiling the predatory tactics of the formula milk industry.” In the editorial, The Lancet reveals that feeding young children has become a multi-billion dollar business. The formula industry uses its economic influence to lobby politicians to make sure that their industry is under-regulated and breastfeeding support is under-resourced. The formula industry falsely advertised that their products can alleviate infant discomfort and improve sleep. The formula industry generates $55 billion a year annually and spends $3 billion in marketing. Formula companies often lobby as trade associations or front groups advocating against breastfeeding protection laws and changing food regulation standards.

The predatory practice of the formula industry reaches far beyond the United States. In 2018, US officials threatened to enforce sanctions and withdraw military aid to Ecuador unless it dropped a resolution at the World Health Assembly to promote breastfeeding. Formula lobby groups have cautioned against improving parental leave laws. Paid parental leave would undoubtedly affect their bottom line, since the lack of paid maternity leave means that formula becomes a much more convenient option. After a mother returns to work, even pumping might not be an option since there might not be adequate places to pump or store breastmilk in their workplace. In the first paper within the series, “Breastfeeding: crucially important, but increasingly challenged in a market-driven world,” The Lancet confirms how poor access to paid maternity and paternity leave undermines breastfeeding.

In the second article of the series “Marketing of commercial milk formula: a system to capture parents, communities, science, and policy,” The Lancet reiterates that some formula industry lobby groups have cautioned against maternity protections. This paper calls for all formula “marketing and industry interference in national and international policy” to end and for there to be similar restrictions to those in place for the tobacco lobby. There are also calls for industry spending on lobbying to be disclosed. 

The third article, “The political economy of infant and young child feeding: confronting corporate power, overcoming structural barriers, and accelerating progress” reveals that from 2007-2018, the largest six formula manufacturers spent $184.2 million on lobbying the US government, with $55.1 million being specifically formula related. $43.8 million of this money was spent by just one formula producer, Abbott. This lobbying has targeted the House of Representatives, Senate, FDA, the State Department, the US Trade Department, The White House, and the USDA. Additionally, in the USA, health care facilities are incentivized to accept money from formula companies rather than create actual breastfeeding support. 

Don’t get me wrong, formula is a great resource for mothers who for whatever reason cannot breastfeed, including, at some points, me. My first baby was an emergency C-section, and he lost a lot of weight his first few days after being born. He was given formula for his first two weeks until I was able to pump enough milk to supplement his nursing. My second baby was also a C-section, and we considered formula to supplement nursing, but that time I was able to pump enough that she didn’t need any formula. Every birth journey is different, and every baby and mother have different needs. However, for too long, formula companies have taken advantage of families at their most vulnerable to increase their bottom line. They have preyed on parent’s fears by using misinformation and misleading marketing. Truly pro-life, family friendly policy needs to put a stop to this.