Medela violates the International Code
Can a feeding bottle really enable ‘babies to maintain their natural feeding behaviour learned on the breast’?
That is the claim from Medela for its Calma bottle and teat. Medela promotes it as ‘the unique breastmilk feeding solution for your baby.’
Under the International Code, companies are only permitted to provide health workers with scientific and factual information. The claims are misleading as Medela admits in response to posts about babies choking using the bottle :
We’ve found sometimes that Calma takes a little getting used to. Typically, babies suck vigorously at the beginning of a feed to stimulate let down. With Calma, relaxed sucking, similar to the middle of a feeding, works best. Many moms found that after a few tries, babies adjust their sucking at the beginning of the feed with Calma and that Calma helped immensely with the transition from bottle to breast.
If babies cannot suck on Calma in the way required to stimulate let down (milk flow from the breast), then surely they will have problems ‘transitioning’ to the breast.