Venezuela’s national assembly is debating a reform to
its breastfeeding law which could see baby food companies like Nestle
fined in certain situations. The corporate media have reacted
hysterically to the law, claiming that President Nicolas Maduro is
“taking bottles from babies’ mouths”.
Though breastfeeding is widely promoted by the Venezuelan government, and public breastfeeding is relatively de-stigmatised, a study by Venezuela’s National Nutrition Institute (INN) between 2006 and 2008 showed that only 55% of mothers exclusively breastfed when their baby was born, going down to 20% when their baby was three months old, and 11% by six months.
