posted
I just saw this on the Today show, where they made it sound as though mothers would be forced to breast feed. They said that the use and promotion of baby formula will be banned. According to this they are only banning the free samples, which will be replaced with nursing supplies.
quote: Free formula samples and formula promotional materials are now banned from gift bags given to new mothers at the 11 hospitals run by the city's Health and Hospitals Corp.
Instead, new mothers will get a tote bag stuffed with disposable nursing pads, a mini-cooler for breast-milk bottles, and pint-sized T-shirts for the babies that proudly declare "I eat at mom's."
Any thoughts?
While I was originally annoyed that they would make this decision for women, it sounds like they will still allow women to bottle feed if they choose, they will just be encouraging women to breast feed. I am concerned how women who have difficulty breast feeding will be treated.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
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I bet they are striving for "Breast Friendly" status (has specific criteria, including no formula free samples).
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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quote:I am concerned how women who have difficulty breast feeding will be treated.
I guess they can always have their babies at home.
Actually, I've known a couple of women who had problems breastfeeding but who also supported, shall we say, consumer driven birthing options.
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Does anyone know if this mean that samples can't be given to mothers who have already decided that they are not breast feeding, either from necessity or choice?
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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The Today Show discussion was pretty awful, in that it framed the hospital move as "making a choice for women."
In fact, what they've done is to cut off marketing that encourages women - effectively - to make a certain kind of choice. Giving free samples and promotional material on infant formula results in more women choosing formula feeding for their infants. If it didn't work that way, companies wouldn't use this extremely cost-effective targeted marketing approach.
I did a little searching and found this article from Medscape:
quote: Infant formula marketing in the United States can discourage breastfeeding, especially among low-income mothers, according to a recent federal report.
While little is known about the impact of most types of marketing on breastfeeding rates, a U.S. Government Accountability Office review of numerous studies found that giving free formula samples to mothers as they are discharged from a hospital after childbirth reduces breastfeeding rates. The report also found breastfeeding rates for mothers were below national goals, especially among those participating in the federal Women, Infants and Children nutrition program.
The GAO review also found some infant formula marketing efforts use the trademarked WIC acronym in promotional materials, which is barred by federal regulations. Yet most states don't enforce the regulations in their WIC contracts.
IMNSHO, this has less to do about limiting the choices of women than it does about limiting the choices of marketers.
And that can be a legitimate debate, but probably not the one that infant formula manufacturers want us to have. Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I cannot read the article since it requires membership. However, I am a little curious as to why low-income mothers are at higher risk? Do they make any guesses/draw any conclusions?
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quote:Originally posted by sndrake: IMNSHO, this has less to do about limiting the choices of women than it does about limiting the choices of marketers.
BINGO!
I was always seriously annoyed at how much formula paraphernalia was in the bag given out to breast-feeding moms at the hospital. Almost as much as the one given to bottle-feeding moms -- we just also got a two-chapter excerpt from a book on nursing.
I applaud this move. And I'm not surprised that the New York Post and the Today show (both well-know bastions of unbiased reporting designed not to stir controversy ) are tilting the issue so.
posted
Oh sure it starts with NYC banning baby formula marketing in hospitals. But it's a slippery slope. Next thing you know, OSC will be banning SPAM marketing in Hatrack. Wouldn't feel so good about that, wouldja?
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Yeah. I always specify that I am going to breastfeed-- and still get formula samples in large enough quantities that I never go through them all. (Although I must say, at the hospitals I delivered at, it wasn't "we just also got a two-chapter excerpt..."-- we got smaller samples of formula, cooler bags for expressed breastmilk, which I use on picnics and such since I don't express , The Nursing Mother's Handbook put out by the AMA was given out at the first hospital I was at, and generally a changing pad/diaper bag, or whatever else was given to formula feeding moms-- we just got, as I said, small samples of formula instead of the two or three full-size cans of dry and 12 to 24 servings of pre-prepared formula that formula-feeding moms got.) But the more annoying part is the way the accompanying pamphlets are worded, to me-- they fairly scream, "When you fail at breastfeeding, turn to our formula!" to me, a message I don't appreciate. 'Specially since, if I were for some reason to stop breastfeeding an infant before time (chemo or something), my kid would be drinking Target brand formula. I'm not paying 4 times as much for a product that's not nutritionally superior...
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I couldn't tell for sure one way or the other, but it sounds like these are publicly-run hospitals. Is that the case?
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I'm annoyed as heck. I don't understand how anyone could think that breast feeding is not promoted by hospitals, ob/gyn's and pediatricians - because I can assure it is to the point that women who DON'T breastfeed are treated like pariahs at times. Now we're going to take away free samples of formula, which by the way are very, very helpful to new moms.
Formula advertising isn't about getting people to not breastfeed, it's about convincing formula-feeding moms to choose their brand over someone elses'. And those free samples help a bunch when you're trying to find what formula will work best with a picky eater, like my son was.
There is no lack of data on the benefits of breastfeeding and every pregnant woman gets exposed to that information, so if one says that she wants to formula feed her baby for whatever reason - no one should have a problem with it. It's her choice. And if the formula companies want to give her free samples, then let them.
This is just one more example of how hostile the medical industry to those who choose to bottlefeed. I get sick of the messages sent to women - in contrast to what you said you saw in the pamphlet kq, what bottle feeding moms get told over and over is "If you fail at breastfeeding you're a failure as a mother."
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Belle, the article rivka linked said two things I think have an impact here: 1) that research has shown that formula samples negatively impact the breastfeeding success of women who wish to breastfeed and 2) that formula is still available at the hospitals for women who ask for it or are unable to breastfeed for medical reasons.
It has not been my experience that the medical industry is hostile to those who wish to formula feed at all. I agree that these two hospitals may seem to be bending over backwards to go the other way from hospitals, like the one my sister-in-law delivered her first at, where people were surprised that she was going to breastfeed and the nurse was offended she was not "covered up" when she came in, but I think eventually after the publicity dies down they will find a balanced middle road of encouraging breastfeeding mothers while also supporting those who choose to formula feed.
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quote:I couldn't tell for sure one way or the other, but it sounds like these are publicly-run hospitals. Is that the case?
It seems so.
In that case, it's not so much that NYC is banning anything so much as choosing not to have certain companies advertise in their facilities, no?
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quote:It has not been my experience that the medical industry is hostile to those who wish to formula feed at all.
Since you have breastfed your babies exclusively, then you would have no experience with it now would you?
I can assure you, the hostility is there and it's tremendous. It's not only from doctors and nurses but also so-called lactation specialists who come into hospital rooms to badger women who've just given birth. I had to specifically request they not be allowed in my room, the hospital's policy was to let them come in. I think, in an age where we are supposed to be concerned with patient privacy, no one who is not a doctor or nurse directly involved in my care should have access to my hospital room.
I was humiliated and insulted in front of a room full of expectant parents at my childbirth education class for multiple births because I said I would not be breastfeeding. When one mother asked me about whether or not to sterilize new bottles, the LLL representative there that night told her not to listen to me as I obviously did not have my babies interests at heart. Then, she told those women they should not learn holds and techniques for nursing twins simlutaneously because if you weren't nursing them individually and giving them your love and attention, you may as well be bottle feeding them. The implication being, of course, that bottle feeding moms didn't give love and attention to their babies.
If I thought this were just about advertising, I wouldn't care. It bothers me not at all if formula companies get to promote their products or not. What bothers me is making it increasingly more hostile and unsupportive for those who choose not to breastfeed or who cannot breastfeed.
Breast milk is better than formula, got it. But feeding your child formula is not akin to child abuse. Millions upon millions of children are alive due to infant formula. Forget about choice - not every mother CAN breastfeed. A friend of mine had surgery on her breasts, and is physiologically incapable of breast feeding. Yet, she still got guilt tripped when she was in the hospital, someone had the nerve to tell her that when her child struggled in school, she'd look back on this and regret it. That is the kind of attitude I've been exposed to and that I will always, always, vehemently speak out about.
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My baby is breastfed, but I did appreciate those formula samples. We kept them around just in case there was an emergency, so that there would be something to feed the baby in case something happened to me. And then, something did...
I had to spend eight hours in the emergency room for a kidney infection (and then had to take non-baby-safe antibiotics for ten days, which meant I had to express and throw away the milk). So I gave baby the formula samples. Baby didn't like the formula much, but she ate it. She just grumbled about it a bit. I was glad that I didn't have to run out and buy formula after I got out of the emergency room, since I was exhausted, feverish, and in pain.
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I got a bunch of formula samples in the mail. I checked the "I want any and all free stuff box." In the bag of stuff from the hospital, I got whatever formula I didn't use (like how you get the diapers). I thought that worked well. Is this policy simply the enforcement of WHO standards? I breastfed and I can see judgement on both sides. I got judged because I didn't breastfeed her first meal. I couldn't get her to latch on, the nurse had no clue how to help and the lactation consultant didn't work at night. So, I fed her some formula rather then let her go hungry. And I got a lecture later on that. My mom knows people who have had the choice of formula or an IV (mother having problems) and honestly chose the IV rather than let their baby have formula. But on the other side, I recently shocked several of my coworkers by telling them monster is breastfed. My brother says seeing woman breastfeed makes him physically ill. I had a friend who had a doctor who tried to convince her to change to formula cause wic pays for formula so why isn't she using it- baby was good, she was good. Dr just thought formula best. I am hoping someday breastfed and bottlefed babies all learn to live in peace. Posts: 1001 | Registered: Mar 2006
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I don't think mothers who make a decision to feed formula should be made to feel inferior for that decision, let alone those who have no real choice in the matter.
However, the formula companies have more than earned the suspicion with which many, particularly in the medical field, treat them.
And while it's wrong that "advice" should push over into "badgering" or worse, the documented differences between babies fed by breast and by formula mean that there is certainly a vested stake for those whose jobs rotate around infant care.
Breast-feeding is not always easy. Take it from someone who's shuttled child, pump, and bottles back and forth over many trips. But an approach that tries to facilitate breast-feeding is an improvement over one that turns a new mother over to what seems to be an easy solution with an awful lot of "educational" marketing dollars attached.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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From the article I think rivka linked to (the link didn't work for me, so I just looked it up on the ABC site):
quote:The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action's Web site states that breast-feeding within the first hour of birth "is the first and most vital step" toward reducing the nation's neonatal mortality rate
They really, really need to qualify this. Many babies who are at risk of increasing the infant mortality rate are either preemies or micropreemies and will die if breastfed within an hour of birth. Aerin, for example, was on a respirator and would have had to be taken off of it to nurse. This would have resulted in her immediate, agonizing death.
quote:Research on premature babies has even found that those given breast milk scored higher on IQ tests than those who were bottle-fed.
Maybe, but that might have less to do with the actual breast milk and more with the parents who make the choice to breastfeed.
I think breastfeeding preemies is wonderful - I pumped for months for Aerin and I'm glad I was able to and I was sorry that I had to stop because of medication. However, many preemie moms had preemies because of serious health issues and they need to be supported when they cannot or choose not to breastfeed or pump. Aerin's neighbor was a preemie because his mother had cancer. He had to be delivered early because if his mother hadn't started chemo, they both would have died. Obviously she couldn't breastfeed, but she was visited (unsolicited) by LLL anyway. I talk to preemie moms all over the US through my work with the March of Dimes and so many of them have tremendous grief and guilt when they can't or don't breastfeed. Being a premie parent is hard enought without being badgered and chastised.
If those especially fervent breastfeeding advocates want to help preemies, then they can donate to milk banks or spread awareness that they exist at all. Come the think of it, why don't hospitals provide information about milk banks in the new mother bags?
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Hand out free cases of beer and free cartons of cigarettes along with the free formula. Great for drumming up business for private pediatricians. Hospitals should just suck up the extra medical expenses that they'll hafta incur for the kids whose parents can't afford private pediatricians.
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quote:Come the think of it, why don't hospitals provide information about milk banks in the new mother bags?
Well, from what I understand, there are a lot of legal hurdles to jump through in some states even to donate.
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quote:The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action's Web site states that breast-feeding within the first hour of birth "is the first and most vital step" toward reducing the nation's neonatal mortality rate
They really, really need to qualify this. Many babies who are at risk of increasing the infant mortality rate are either preemies or micropreemies and will die if breastfed within an hour of birth. Aerin, for example, was on a respirator and would have had to be taken off of it to nurse. This would have resulted in her immediate, agonizing death.
They appear to be speaking in terms of national policy priorities and reducing overall neonatal mortality rates. Since most babies are not preemies***, putting funding into early breastfeeding encouragement will indeed benefit the vast majority of babies, which would indeed have the biggest effect on the population neonatal mortality rates.
I expect they assume that exceptions to the rule for medical reasons would be addressed individually, as that is the case for most matters of general policy. The policy doesn't drive individual medical decisions, but rather where to place funding and attention to benefit the most on a population level.
That being said, I understand your concern. I just don't think a general policy initiative is faulty for not listing all of the potential exceptions, given that it is addressed at how to make big changes to have the most effect on a large group. For a medical guideline, however, I would agree with you. A medical guideline needs to make note of categories of exception, since it is used to make decisions in indiviual cases for which it may or may not apply.
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*** Preemies, although at high risk for early death, are not responsible as a group for the most frequent early deaths worldwide. The most immediately preventable cause of early infant death (i.e., that which can be addressed without adding additional technology or expensive skilled professionals) is malnutrition and/or dehydration, particularly secondary to gastroenteritis-related diarrhea, in full-term babies (just because there are so many more full term babies that are born, and they are all at risk for this).
When you do not have a safe water supply and are mixing formula from a (easily transported and stored, as well as cheaper) powder, then the risk of contamination is high. Also, where formula powder is expensive (as it is, relatively speaking, in most third-world countries), parents will not uncommonly make the choice to overdilute the formula to stretch it out, even if the water is not safe. That leads to electrolyte imbalances and seizures.
It is a liminal existance on the margins, where most of the world population lives.
quote:federal health officials commissioned an attention-grabbing advertising campaign a few years ago to convince mothers that their babies faced real health risks if they did not breast-feed. It featured striking photos of insulin syringes and asthma inhalers topped with rubber nipples.
And the formula companies didn't like this? I'm shocked.
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From ScientificAmerican: ...researchers who found that preemies who drank breast milk while still in intensive care units thrived better than their formula-fed brethren—and were less likely to be rehospitalized after being discharged. Scientists report in the journal Pediatrics that they followed 800 extremely low weight babies and found that after 30 months those fed mom's milk scored an average of 90 on the mental development index, a test that measures overall intelligence, compared with an average 76 for the other infants...
posted
I believe breastmilk is better for preemies, no question. However, it's not a magic formula (no pun intended) for good health. Aerin got breastmilk and was rehospitalized 6 days after discharge. I'm wary of any claims on its effect on IQ and development without taking other important factors into consideration. The study appears to back me up on this.
quote:Two indicators that have been shown to be associated with better developmental, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes, which were not collected in our study, are maternal IQ and quality of the home environment. There are a limited number of studies that have included these variables in their study design and adjusted for the effects relative to the effects of BM on child outcomes.
Also, the babies in this study were hospitalized between 1999 and 2001. Neonatal medicine moves really quickly. There are drugs being used to treat preemies now that were still in the trial phase when Aerin was in the NICU in 2005. Plus there are so many factors that affect micropreemie health that I would have to see pretty exhaustive research backing up the claim that breastmilk plays as large a role as is being claimed (I'm not arguing that it doesn't play any role or even a significant one).
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I HATE this idea. I was a breastfeeding mom, but I think all the "goodies" in the Enfamil and Similac bags were really useful. Also, those little formula cans are perfect to have on hand if "mom" has to run somewhere. I'm against getting rid of anything that's free!
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I don't see why both freebie packs couldn't be handed out. Why not "I eat at Mom's" and a coupon for a free 64-oz. canister of Enfamil?
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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How much of an influence does the mother's diet have on the quality/nutritional value of the produced milk? Has anyone ever heard of or seen a cost comparison between feeding a baby exclusively formula and the cost of a mother eating as healthily enough to provide a formula-equivilant breastfeeding experience, nutrition-wise?
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quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: and the cost of a mother eating as healthily enough to provide a formula-equivilant breastfeeding experience, nutrition-wise?
You've got that backwards. They still haven't managed to develop a formula that is a breastfeeding-equivilant experience, nutrition-wise.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: How much of an influence does the mother's diet have on the quality/nutritional value of the produced milk? Has anyone ever heard of or seen a cost comparison between feeding a baby exclusively formula and the cost of a mother eating as healthily enough to provide a formula-equivilant breastfeeding experience, nutrition-wise?
Mother's diet has virtually no effect on the baby. It does, however, have a more serious than usual impact on her own body because her body will make sure the baby gets what it needs, even if it has to main her own stores for mineral resources.
As for the cost comparison for a diet to maintain the health of the mom -- it's negligible. Healthy moms who breast feed and formula feed should see little difference in their grocery bills.
quote:Originally posted by DDDaysh: I HATE this idea. I was a breastfeeding mom, but I think all the "goodies" in the Enfamil and Similac bags were really useful. Also, those little formula cans are perfect to have on hand if "mom" has to run somewhere. I'm against getting rid of anything that's free!
Formula samples are NOT free. They are very costly in that they encourage moms to quit breast feeding and choose formula. Do you honestly think companies would stuff bags full of formula if they didn't know exactly what was going to happen to a weary breast feeding mom at some 3 a.m. nursing session when she just didn't think she could take it any more? Those samples are deadly to breast feeding efforts. I am a very active participant on a breast feeding support forum and I can't tell you how many times I see woman wonder why their supply is low when they "only give their babies one bottle at bed time."
#1 advice for moms who want to breast feed: Throw away the "free" samples. Don't even have it in the house. Emergencies happen, but if they do most people have access to a 24-hour Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, if it's not actually an emergency, the drive + cooling down time + sticker shock may encourage the woman to stick with breast feeding.
In fact, companies know how this works so well that they send more "free" samples to moms who plan to BF than moms who plan to formula feed. heck, they've already got the formula feeders -- them or a competitor. I tell formula feeding mommies that the best way to get lots of samples is to check "breast feeding" whenever asked. I got 8 full containers of formula in the mail before I had my son. I kept them around for an "emergency" but during his 3 week growth spurt when I almost gave in, I threw them all in the trash can. You can complain if you want that I should have given them away but it was something I had to do to affirm my personal commitment. It was therapeutic.
Now that I know better, I am refusing all formula samples up front. I told my OB to take the formula out of the welcome packet and give it to someone who needed it.
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: I don't see why both freebie packs couldn't be handed out. Why not "I eat at Mom's" and a coupon for a free 64-oz. canister of Enfamil?
How about two different bags? One for formula feeding moms and one for breast feeding moms? Would that be so hard? My biggest problem is when I see moms who want to breast feed and who have made that choice be discouraged by the mixed signals and the formula. And it does happen. Meanwhile, moms who have already decided to formula feed don't need a t-shirt for their baby saying "I eat at Mom's." It's probably at least a little insulting to them.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I was never tempted to use the formula samples, but that's probably more a function of choosing not to have any bottles in the house. In an emergency, the formula could have been mixed up in a cup, but there was never any emergency. I tossed the samples after about a year because I was tired of them sitting around, and at that point they were completely unneccessary.
posted
Our hospital had two different gift bags, depending on whether you planned to breastfeed. They were both put together by a formula company. The "breastfeeding" one had a big can of formula and a booklet published by the formula company about how great their formula was and all the ingredients it has to make it "just like your milk." They gave it to us on the way out the door -- if I'd opened it at the hospital I'd have left it there and wrote scathing comments on my evaluation card.
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dkw -- That's awful! I bet the formula feeder's bag had only one little single-use sample pack.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Yeah, like I said, the first one I got-- with Emma-- had pamphlets about "Breastmilk is best. But when you stop breastfeeding in a few months" (why would I stop in a few months?) "or fail at it, use our formula!"
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Oh, and about nutrition: the 300-500 extra daily calories needed by a breastfeeding mother and a store-brand prenatal supplement (to make sure the mineral needs of the baby are available) are not nearly as costly as formula, at least from my discussion with formula-feeding moms.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Christine... I don't think you understand the word "Emergency".
My son's first experience with formula is when Daddy was taking care of him all alone for the first time. I had an all day work shop. I'd pumped as much as I could and thought it was sufficient, but we didn't account for the fact that when my son bottle fed (until we found a nipple that worked in his mouth) half the bottle was lost into a towel without ever making it into his mouth.
My ex was out of milk, had a fussy ten-day-old aby who refused plain water AND a two-and-a-half year old handicapped toddler who couldn't walk. That is the type of emergency I'm talking about. One where driving to the nearest 24-hour-Wal-Mart (which by the way, is over half an hour from here) is not an option. Plus, there was no reason for him to open a whole can of formula. The little samples they hand out are just the right size for those few emergency times.
Also, I see nothing wrong with advertising in hospitals. After all, our hospital was all about the huggies diapers. What is that, after all, but an endorsement to NOT use cloth??? I've even heard that many hospitals will not allow you to use cloth while in the hospital. Is no one up in arms about this? Advertising only works on people who let it.
Most women who give up on breast feeding because it's a pain would do so with or without the formula advertisements. That pretty much just leaves us with the "low income" argument. Quite honestly, I think the REAL reason many low income women use formula is because of how the "WIC" program is laid out. In theory, WIC supports breast feeding, but in practice they're all about the formula. Breast feeding mom's only get six months more of food than non-breast-feeders, and the value of the food they get doesn't come near the value of the formula. I know more than one mother who chose to use formula because then she could get it from WIC, and they give you so much you almost always have some left over at the end of the month. Those extra cans can be sold for cash at many second hand shops, and despite attempts to curb this practice, it still happens all the time.
That's my 2 cents anyway.
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Jun 2006
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DDDaysh: I am not denying that you needed to give your baby formula. Many women do at some point, especially those who have to return to work. I didn't mean to suggest that you didn't have a real need or a real emergency. I just think that if you need to have formula backup while you're gone for a day or if you think something might come up where you are likely to need it, you can buy it. There's no reason millions of breast feeding moms need to be given formula so that you can have your emergency backup for free. What's convenient for you is at least partly responsible for causing many other moms to fail in their goals.
I'm not trying to say that formula feeding is wrong or bad -- but I can't even count the # of guilty moms I hear trying to justify to me why they quit breast feeding. (Mostly this is because I hang out on a breast feeding support forum on a parenting site.) I don't care. It's their choice and I won't get judgmental about it, but they still feel bad about their lack of success. some of them really see it as a personal failure. I hate to see women go through that when they don't have to. If stopping all that means that somewhere down the line, a woman who has to supplement or switch entirely to formula needs to purchase their first cannister rather than getting it for free, then IMHO that's a small price to pay.
Half of all women who set out to breast feed their child give up breast feeding by the time their child is 6 weeks old. Most moms haven't even returned to work by then. I have found the following to be the primary reasons:
1. Lack of support from friends, family, and hospital staff. (This one's huge.)
2. The ready availability of formula samples.
3. Misinformation and bad advice.
I do think there are some women who are going to give it up anyway -- who probably only even set out to breast feed because they thought they "should" and are looking for any excuse to quit. They exist, but if they existed in such large numbers then the companies wouldn't give out the formula for free. They've done plenty of market research on this and they know that the availability of formula in the home is much more likely to cause a woman to fail.
Anyway, that's what I've come to think about all this after about 2 years of reading, research, getting through the first 6 weeks myself, and then trying to help other moms get through that time. Since the formula companies are unlikely to stop giving away free samples, through the mail if not through hospitals, you'll probably still get them. But I'm going to continue to recommend to new moms that they not keep them in the house and I personally plan to refuse them whenever possible and give them away when they are dropped on my doorstep. I figure that's a more useful effort than trying to get formula companies to stop doing something that's making them so much money! :=)
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:If stopping all that means that somewhere down the line, a woman who has to supplement or switch entirely to formula needs to purchase their first cannister rather than getting it for free, then IMHO that's a small price to pay.
I should point out that if a woman wants free and discounted formula, it is readily available through the formula companies outside of hospitals. Sign up for their "baby clubs" and they will send you a free canister (sometimes two!) of formula (or coupons for the same) and coupons or checks for several dollars off their formula for many months afterwards. The hospital does not have to be involved in any way in order for you to get free formula. All it takes is a phone call or filling out a form online or a pre-paid postcard.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote: Instead, new mothers will get a tote bag stuffed with disposable nursing pads, a mini-cooler for breast-milk bottles, and pint-sized T-shirts for the babies that proudly declare "I eat at mom's."
Any thoughts?
I love it. I wish I was given a bag like this when my children were born. I would have loved to get free nursing pads.
I found it more cost effective to breast feed my children. I've often wondered if I would have been able to actually afford to purchase formula if I'd of needed to.
After trying formula myself one time, I decided that it wasn't the tastiest stuff around. I honestly couldn't figure out how it could appeal to a baby.
A choice of bags for new moms would be kinder.
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quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Oh, and about nutrition: the 300-500 extra daily calories needed by a breastfeeding mother and a store-brand prenatal supplement (to make sure the mineral needs of the baby are available) are not nearly as costly as formula, at least from my discussion with formula-feeding moms.
Good to know. Thanks (and Christine, too)!
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Of note, it isn't safe to give a young infant plain water, anyway, as their electrolytes get out of whack pretty quickly (can lead to seizures, among worse things).
I'm so sorry your family had to go through that.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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I just think it's a shame they're not giving out samples in the NICUs of these hospitals. So many preemie moms need them. When you go home with a preemie, every single little bit of help counts - it's not like going home with a term baby. NICU nurses are lovely people and they load you up when you're discharged. Since preemies don't eat as much as term babies, the formula lasts much longer. When you have an infant on oxygen and an apnea monitor and hourly medications and respiratory therapy, who also has a compromised immune system, you need to be at home with your baby. Making an emergency run for formula is just not an option. In fact, it's a good idea to minimize your contact with the outside world, to reduce your preemie's exposure to germs. Particularly during RSV season.
I'm uncomfortable with the idea of "protecting" low income women from formula samples. Because they're poor, we just assume that they don't have the ability to resist advertising? We prevent them from making an informed decision by removing the option we don't want them to use?
I think that one of the main reasons I get so worked up about aggressive breasfeeding advocacy is that it didn't help Aerin the way it should have. She was jaundiced for a very long time, she was anemic for a long time, and her weight gain was so slow that they had to add fat to my breastmilk. And it's hard to believe that breastfeeding is this wonderful thing when your holding oxygen under your baby's nose as she's learning to nurse and you're staring at a monitor and watching her desat. It's just one more experience preemie moms are robbed of and no one seems to care how it makes them feel.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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) are tilting the issue so. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I was glad that I didn't have to run out and buy formula after I got out of the emergency room, since I was exhausted, feverish, and in pain.
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