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New mum / pregnancy packs - can it be greener?

Posted by ecosrights, 662 days ago

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Reading discussion "New mum / pregnancy packs - can it be greener?" - Join this discussion / 0 comment(s)
Argh.... I think I have now just received my 3rd "congratulations you're pregnant, welcome to our baby club" pack and they are ALL full of "nasties". I'm NOT impressed.

I vaguely remember how bad it was last time around, but part of me hoped that in the last 6.5 years progress might have been made and there might be some acknowledgment of real nappies, for instance. But no, they are still just as bad.

We have the traditional Early Pregnancy Bounty pack that contains lots of marking material and brochures for people like Pampers, money off vouchers for Pampers, recommendations for Johnson's baby products (they sent out son's skin crazy and he's not the only one who we know of who's suffered). Then there was the sample of Fairy washing liquid (one of the ones in the gel pouch that gunges up your washing machine) and the sample of Ovalitine (this was probably the most neutral thing in there).

As well as this I've had "Welcome to our baby club" emails and mail including vouchers for Pampers, Huggies, Johnson's, Fairy etc.

Yes, for some people these are probably great, but please, open people's eyes to the alternatives. The one thing that I can say is better is they no longer have vouchers in for formula milk and there is always something about the benefits of breastfeeding, which is good, although I think that was due to a ban from the Health Department on advertising formula for babies under 6 months (don't quote me on that, but I'm sure there was something along those lines a few years back, which is why all formula ads are for follow-on milk now).

In the 4 or 5 books in the Bounty pack, there was one with a 2 page spread on using real nappies - WOW!

I did discuss the "quality" of Bounty packs from an environmental perspective with a friend who works in one of the major maternity units in the North East and she said that as a trust they had stopped issuing them - good for them! Quite a contrast to the friend who recently had a baby in one of the London hospitals - when a midwife came round to help them change the baby, she actually asked for the wipes from the Bounty pack. Needless to say, next nappy change the baby's bottom was really sore (at less than 24 hours old). They've stuck to water and cotton wool since and the baby is fine! Their health visitor has told them that they need to use soap washing their baby, who is 2 weeks old - this is a change from the message 6 years ago, which was to avoid soap based products for as long as possible as they were not good for the baby's skin (I agree there...)

Then, in my despair about this, I decided to see if there was a green alternative, and... there IS!

I was reading The Green Parent magazine (one of the only ones worth reading, but I do find they are a bit extreme at times) where they mentioned the MamaPacks, started by Yzzy Howell, which contains lots of natural parenting goodies. OK, so this one was £5 to cover postage, but the version I ordered for a friend (the one who experienced the wipes in hospital!) contained:

- soap nuts (great alternative to Fairy)
- a sample of real nappy fabric and a voucher to get 10% off with a particular supplier
- a sample of natural muesli
- a handful of honey based sweets
- a fruit bar
- a tube of chemical free nappy cream
- a selection of cotton based, disposable sanitary products and breast pads
- a CD all about breast feeding

Of course it still contained all of the official government leaflets as well, so you didn't miss out on any of the critical information.

SO much better - it wouldn't take much for the producers of the Bounty packs, and things like Tescos baby club, to include some greener options - why not breast pads; biodegradable nappy sacks; flushable chemical free wipes...? And of course something healthy for mum to snack on while breastfeeding (or in a long labour).

What has your experience been? I know I wont be getting the next Bounty pack (unless I do so purely to add to this post!!)

Good luck to you if you are pregnant - I'll add more posts as time progresses for me. Reply to this
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