It happened to me, and maybe it happened to you. As I prepared to
leave the hospital with my newborn, nurses handed me -- a still
recuperating mom clearly attempting to breastfeed -- a goody bag that
contained free samples of infant formula. A button sporting the Similac
teddy bear even hung from the bag's handles.
According to new information published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, and mentioned in this Chicago Tribune story,
my hospital isn't the only one. After surveying close to 1,300 medical
facilities on the East Coast, researchers found that 94 percent of them
disseminate formula samples even while encouraging mothers to nurse.
Some
say the samples are nothing more than freebies intended to be used as
back-up if breastfeeding issues arise. Others insist they send a mixed
message and imply that it's okay to bail on the whole boob thing. Or,
to put it in the extreme terms attributed to the chairwoman of the
Chicago Area Breastfeeding Coalition: "Handing bags of free formula,
even formula advertising, is like handing out Big Macs on the cardiac
floor."
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