Saudi shows bottle with ban on baby formula

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New mothers in Saudi Arabia will no longer be offered promotional samples of baby formula, following a rule barring hospitals from handing out starter packs of the controversial powder.

Under a new law, which came into force last month, healthcare facilities are banned from advertising or promoting baby formula or food substitutes. Baby bottles and pacifiers are also included in the legislation.

Dr Manal Khorshid, coordinator of the breastfeeding program at the Jeddah Directorate of Health, said the ruling was intended to encourage breastfeeding rates. "Mothers should breastfeed their newborns the moment they deliver them," she said.

Hospitals and clinics caught flouting the ban will face fines of between 5,000 and 150,000 Saudi riyals, and closure for 180 days. Crucially, formula manufacturers and distributors will also face penalties if found supplying samples for promotional use.

News of the ban has been hailed as a breakthrough by international breastfeeding association, La Leche League. Stacey Grieves, the group's Saudi Arabian representative, said the ban should go hand-in-hand with an educational campaign to promote breastfeeding awareness among health professionals.

She said: "The Ministry of Health now has an obligation to educate its staff. If doctors tell mothers there is no need to feed formula, then the mothers won't do it. They can spread the message much faster than we can at a grassroots level."

The legislation is likely to hit government hospitals hardest. Many routinely dispense powder samples to mothers and formula feed newborns, contravening World Health Organisation guidelines that banned the marketing of breast milk substitutes nearly 30 years ago.

"Mothers are told they have to give their child formula in order to rest after labour [and] in this culture, people are more likely to blindly follow the doctor's advice," said Grieve. "There is a lot of ignorance about breastfeeding."

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