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The Julie Crawford Award for Breastfeeding Support for 2011 was won by 6 health visitor representatives on the Infant Feeding Information Team of Blackpool and North Lancashire (IFIT).

Left to right:  Sarah Saunby (one of the Julie Crawford Award judges), ,Julie Carter Lindsay (Blackpool), Jo Dobson (Fylde), the late William Bingley (Chair of NHS North Lancashire), Kathleen Freear (Lancaster), Sue Anslow (Wyre) and Nicola Kemp (Wyre). Inset:  Sam Whittle (Lancaster). Photo credit: Baby Feeding Law Group (click for a large version).

One of the judges, Obi Amadi, Lead Professional Officer, UNITE/CPHVA, said:

I am delighted to see how the  winning health visitor representatives have been key to IFITs success, helping create a fantastic model that I hope will be picked up by other regions throughout the UK. The team has shaped IFIT’s agenda and improved communication. In just four years IFIT has markedly reduced reliance on information from baby milk companies. IFIT has also done so much to ensure that good quality generic information about formula feeding is “out there.”   

• The Julie Crawford Award for Breastfeeding Support is an award given by the BFLG to Health Visitors and Health Visitor Teams who have made a significant contribution to the protection of breastfeeding and who facilitate universal access to support that is free from commercial influence. The Award was set up in memory of Julie Crawford, a health visitor and a former Director of Baby Milk Action who died from a rare disease, at the age of 42 in  November 2001.

Hot Milk - critical analysis of company research reveals unwarranted claims

IFIT produces a bulletin on infant feeding for health workers called Hot Milk. IFIT also features alongside other experts in the educational DVD, Infant Formula Explained, produced by Baby Milk Action on behalf of the Baby Feeding Law Group (BFLG) (page 11). The November 2011 Hot Milk reports:

We have repeatedly requested evidence supporting all new formula developments to be sent in advance of IFIT meetings, and it is only recently that this has started to happen... 

Most studies claim only to show that there may be some benefit, but basic analysis of research protocols often shows that even that claim is unwarranted on the evidence. One even admitted that a product may have “decreased benefit” (i.e. risk of harm) for some babies. Formula studies supplied have included babies who have been initially breastfed for varying, sometimes undisclosed, periods, yet the formula is being marketed as safe for all babies from birth, despite the importance of initial gut colonisation. 

This explains why IFIT has not simply passed on company claims in Hot Milk, and so lent our credibility to company marketing efforts. One company has expressed frustration that IFIT has not done so, and stated in writing its intention to ignore the Trust policy of not visiting individual staff.

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