Thread by @feedukorg

This week in ‘how do we stop those pesky baby banks providing milk to hungry formula fed babies’ we’ve had an NHS Infant Feeding lead contact a bank telling them provision of formula is illegal (it’s not), & a BF counsellor contact a baby bank threaten to... (1/) #FormulaIsFood

...withdraw BF support from Mums at a local playgroup, because they “hosted” the bank, who gave a Mum two tins of formula they had, despite not providing formula usually. We still can’t believe this but we have receipts (2/) #FormulaIsFood

This person also threatened to ‘report’ the baby bank to the local Health Board who she suggested may no longer work with the baby bank in supporting vulnerable families if they continued to provide formula to formula fed babies in need (3/) #FormulaIsFood

Both contacts stated WHO Code violations, the law, & the @UNICEF_uk BFI accreditation in regards to their threats to withdraw support for vulnerable families should the banks continue to provide formula. So let us clear a few things up... (4/) #FormulaIsFood

UK formula regs do not prohibit the provision of infant formula to formula fed babies. In fact, they allow for it. So it’s perfectly legal to provide formula to formula fed babies in food poverty (5/) #FormulaIsFood

It is also completely legal for supermarkets, or anyone else, to donate formula to food & baby banks. The law prevents donation to healthcare orgs & staff, but that is all that is banned (6/) #FormulaIsFood

There is nothing in the WHO Code to prevent anyone referring a family to an organisation that provides formula, or to prevent anyone else working with such an org. Plus, the parts of the Code not adopted into UK are entirely voluntary anyway (7/) #FormulaIsFood

@UNICEF_uk guidelines that formula is not provided directly to formula fed babies in need by food & baby banks is also voluntary, & therefore not binding. Banks can choose to follow this guideline or not (8/) #FormulaIsFood

We do not know if referral to baby/food banks for provision of formula is a breach of @UNICEF_uk Baby Friendly accreditation but we have asked for clarification (9/) #FormulaIsFood

https://twitter.com/feedukorg/status/1398166570979971072

So, if you work with Mums & babies, you don’t have to worry about food & baby banks ‘breaking rules’ regarding providing formula to formula fed babies. There is certainly no need to withdraw #infantfeedingsupport from Mums because of this! (10/) #FormulaIsFood

If you’re an organisation who provides, or would like to provide formula to formula fed babies in need, we’ve developed guidelines on how this can be done safely & with dignity (11/) #FormulaIsFood

If you’re still on the fence about whether formula should be provided for formula fed babies in food poverty, our report discusses the consequences of policies that prevent direct provision (12/) #FormulaIsFood

Finally, & most important, if you’re the parent or carer of a formula fed baby & you need help accessing formula, please don’t despair. There are amazing people & orgs who will help you because like us, they understand that every baby has a right to food & #FormulaIsFood (13/end)