Mother and baby marketing club Bounty has felt the wrath of Mumsnet, the highly vocal online forum, after the group called for a ban on reps targeting new mothers on NHS maternity wards.
Bounty, which has 2.5 million members in the UK and sends out information packs to all new and expectant mothers, is currently allowed on wards to offer free samples and collect personal details.
But 82% of mothers who responded to a Mumsnet questionnaire said the practice should be banned, with over half (56%) feeling the Bounty rep had invaded their privacy.
Even more worrying for the firm, 53% rated the post-natal Bounty pack as poor with not much of use inside, while almost a third (29%) felt pressurised by the firm’s staff into having their baby’s photograph taken.
Justine Roberts of Mumsnet said: “Our users believe it’s time for the government to clamp down on Bounty’s harassment tactics to obtain data from new mothers.
“There is a time and a place for direct sales and it’s not on postnatal wards, hours after women have given birth. Women rightly expect hospital wards to be a safe place and targeting new mothers at their most vulnerable is simply not on.”
Bounty updated its code of conduct a year ago in response to criticism that its reps could be intrusive and insensitive at a time when mothers were particularly vulnerable.
It has said it would welcome dialogue with Mumsnet and is saddened to hear of any instances where it falls short “of the high standards that mums demand of us and we demand of ourselves”.
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