Baby formula ban - Hospitals in NYC

msoulz wrote: Baby formula ban

How about that? Before I read the story I thought it had something to do with cost or feuding formula companies but not the case. I am not sure about this - I did breastfeed but we did supplement for the first 5 days or so to get rid of jaundice so that free stuff was very handy.

Thoughts?

grapfruit replied: Interesting...but I don't think eliminating formula from their gift bags is going to increase breast feeding. I think TALKING and EDUCATING new mothers on the benefits of breast feeding may. Why take away a perk when you can talk to them and get a a better effect?

gr33n3y3z replied: I think they should promote both bc neither is wrong
and to FORCE BF on someone is WRONG!!!!!

A&A'smommy replied: I COMPLETELY agree with Casey and Lisa!!!

grapfruit replied:
Totally agree, it's mom's choice not the doctors. I know people who didn't breast feed their kids, and guess what. Their kids are FINE!!!! You'd never know they didn't BF!!!

PrairieMom replied: I was just going to post about his, They were talking about it on the View, and again, I found myself wanting to strangle Elizabeth. She and I just don't see eye to eye.

I don't think that the state should have any say at all over if a woman BF or not, but I also don't think that People should complain about what is in or not in a gift bag. They are just that , "gifts" if it contains something you don't want/won't use, then don't use it. Mothers need to take the initiative to do their own research, and if they want to FF< then make sure they have Formula in the house, and not rely on the hospital to do it for you.

Okay. Now, I'm gonna actually check out the link...

luvbug00 replied:

you mean eliza ___. i lothe her.

umm Yeah i had to formula mya because of severe jaudce and "gift bags"?? i just flat out took almost everything on the cart the 5 grand i layed down to pop her out the cart was my "gift"! lol!

PrairieMom replied:
yeah her. I disagree with just about everything that comes out of her mouth.

3xsthefun replied: I don't think anyone has a right to try and force a woman to breastfed and same goes for formula feeding.

All of my kids have been formula fed from day 1 and have been just fine.

PrairieMom replied:
I don't think that they are trying to force anyone. The way I read it is that they are just encouraging mothers to BF. others still have the choice to go to Walmart and buy a can of formula. I guess if anything they should not hand out samples, but hand out pamphlets stating the pros and cons of both FF and BF to be on the safe side.

msoulz replied:

That's how I feel too. Whatever is right for each mom. I seem to recall them asking me in the hospital if I was going to breastfeed or not and the bag I got did not contain formula but when it became necessary it was provided. That makes sense to me.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: The way it is at the hospital where I gave birth to all three of my children, is that it is the parents' responsibility to bring food for the baby. Be it breast or bottle. The hospital has, on hand, an emergency supply for parents coming in from a homeless shelter to give birth, or if the baby has a reaction to the formula that the parents brought, and babies born by emergency, early, unprepared parents etc.... of course the babies aren't going to be let go hungry.

But the hospital will not give out free samples of formula, just for the heck of it. Actually, they won't give out free samples of anything, really. It's up to the parents to come prepared with the diapers, wipes, creams, pads for mom, etc etc...

Now I'll go read the article.

Jamison'smama replied: If there are 2 seperate bags, one with formula and one with breastfeeding info and maybe some storage bags or whatever, that would be fine. If there is just one gift bag, full of formula, given by a formula company, I disagree with giving those out to all. Of course everyone has the right to choose whether or not to breastfeed but many many people go into the hospital without any information and the only thing they are given (if they don't ask) is free formula samples. I think that we don't do a great job overall of educating on the BF option.

HuskerMom replied:
I totally agree!

Jamison'smama replied: I guess I don't see how the lack of formula samples is forcing anything? Of course forcing is wrong but I don't see the connection but clearly others do.

luvmykids replied:
I don't think the lack of formula itself is forceful, but the intention behind removing them is, kwim? JMHO.

Personally, I was a lot more moved in my decision by the nurses who talked to me about both options. I would be insulted that someone may think I'm such an idiot that by not having formula in the gift bags I would automatically BF

Jamison'smama replied:
Well that's true. I would imagine part of the statement is that if you plan to breastfeed but have that free formula from the hospital that one would give up easier (during those late at night first few days) if there is a back up plan sitting in the diaper bag.

I also bet that for some--(not sure who ), if a hospital gives you formula, it is like they are endorsing the formula over BF and they want there to be a neutral statement.

Jackie012007 replied: when I had carly, during your last few appointments you talked with the OB to decide your feeding choice - I chose to FF because of my history of BPD and SI, I really needed to be back on antidepressants. Then when you have the baby, you either get a gift bag for FF or BF - in the FF they gave you the ready to feed bottles, and you got to keep whatever diapers and wipes and blankets and onesies that were in your cart. There was definitely no forcing on either side, I liked that. If you were BF (my neighbor was), you got literature, storage bags, breast pads, and then the diapers/wipes/etc - that's the way it should be IMO - it was nice, I loved my hospital!

luvmykids replied:
True.

The nurse I talked to was great....I had already decided to BF but she was totally neutral, and revisted the pros and cons (for lack of better words) of both. She didn't woo hoo at my decision to BF and said if I changed my mind, not to beat myself up, etc. Overall I think I would have felt supported either way. I wish they were all so good!

gr33n3y3z replied:
maybe for some it would be but I BF all of my babies and I always had formula in the house just in case of an emergancy and never bc I didnt want to get up in the middle of the night to fed them.

Jamison'smama replied:
Oh by late night I didn't mean not wanting to get up...for me (I guess I was just projecting my frustrations on everyone else), it was the middle of the night, screaming child, unable to latch on, engorged breast, football holds, trying to get the timing right of her mouth opening and shoving her on that would drive a person to say FORGET THIS, I can't do it!

I also had a can for an emergency and it took some definite willpower not to give in at those moments.

gr33n3y3z replied: Oh I can see that many of times it was trying
or it just seemed they were always hanging also

Kentuckychick replied:
Couldn't have said it better myself!

And honestly, I saw the bill my best friend got after having her daughter last August and then again when she baby Caydence was back in the hospital at 6 weeks and had a spinal tap. That stuff isn't FREE! Diapers, wipes, formula samples, sugar water, hospital blankets and the little white shirts... they might not actually put it on the bill, but you definitely pay for ALL of it!

As for the whole BF or Formula feeding. It really is a woman's choice and I think there's no sadder argument then mother's arguing with one another about who's better because of the milk they give their infants.

And honestly if I were going to exclusively breastfeed and was given a giftbag with formula samples in it or sent formula samples, rather than be offended I think I could find some good use through donation. Somewhere out there is a baby who could use it.

Mommy2BAK replied: HOW RUDE

holley79 replied:
I wonder if this is because of the differences in our health care systems. I mean here my hospital/ birthing bill was 6000.00. I mean I have insurance so it was only 300.00 but that's still a lot of money. My nurse loaded me up because I wasn't a PIHA while I was there.

CantWait replied: The article isn't saying that it's forcing women to BF. It's simply saying that instead of providing a baby with formula first that they are giving mom the chance to BF, and if she chooses not to, then formula will be provided. I think far to many mother's choose to formula feed because it's there or because there isn't enough education out there on the struggles of breastfeeding and what to expect, only on proper latch, many use it as a cop out because it's easier then your nipples hurting, or latching problems etcc.....Far to many give up in the first few days because it's not as they expected, when the truth is, sometimes it takes a few weeks before things work themselves out. It's portrayed as a natural thing, when in all right, it's really not.
I agree that formula should be left out, or at the very least there should be seperate bags. I don't know how many cans I threw away, (not thinking to take it to a food bank or a shelter etc...) because I didn't need them.

jcc64 replied: Ita 100% with Brenda on this one. I don't see how free samples are synonomous with "forcing" someone to bf. If you disagree with the intention behind the move, then you should also disagree with the intention behind free samples. They are not benevolent "gifts"- they are blatant attempts by the formula companies to establish brand loyalty and maximize profits. Whether or not a woman bf is ultimately up to her, but I would think a hospital shouldn't be in the business of unwittingly facilitating ff.
And while I am certain I will be slammed for saying so, ff is a medically inferior choice, according to study after study after study. Yes, I know some women cannot bf, and their children do fine, and I am not judging anyone's choices here. But the fact of the matter is, many many women give up on bf because of a lack of support and/or information. This is simply an effort to address that. No one is prevented from ff by not being offered free gifts in the goodie bag.

luvbug00 replied:

i beg to differ and i wish i still had all my links from our old computer because i have found information stating that it is most cirtenly not inferior in choise. I was in a debate board about this topic ( and circ) and so i had links out the wazzoo but since this is lars's computer and i haven't debated since 6 months ago when i still used brads computer. all my infor is on brads. darn... anyhoo I wanted to bf and had to ff because mya's size , juandice and such. that's all. don't wanna debate just my 2 cents

kit_kats_mom replied: I didn't read the story yet but from the first few responses, I can guess what it's about.

If the state is trying to encourage breastfeeding, I think it's fine. Sure, some people can't but many don't even try or they try, then give up and use the samples which make nursing even harder.

If the states argument is that it will save them money, I can see how that's the case. BM is free, formula is costly and from what I recall, lower economic levels tend to give formula. If those same people are receiving benefits from the state (WIC, Food stamps etc) it would figure that breastfeeding would save the state money in the long run. Plus, if the studies showing that BF babies are healthier than FF babies (not a debate, just saying if it's true) then those health savings would be passed on to the state as well in the form of health care.

I refused all samples just to be on the safe side. I did not want them around to tempt me when the going got rough. I even gave away a whole case of formula that I won for having K on labor day...go figure, little monkey never even took a bottle.

I do think that the formula companies come on too hard to new moms. They spend a fortune advertising. Where's the "got boobs" ad campaigns? I definately felt pushed to FF and if I had not done research and made the decision to BF exclusively, then I would have likely been swayed by the ads and freebies.

jcc64 replied: Well said, Cary- that's exactly what I was getting at- you just said better and more diplomatically.

kit_kats_mom replied:
hmmm. that's a first.

lisar replied: Okay I didnt read all 2 pages of replies so if this has been mentioned before sorry.

What about people like me who couldnt breast feed. I could NOT breastfeed Lexi cause of the medicine they had to give me to save me. So I just think its stupid. And for when I had Raygen she was in the NICU for 2 weeks and could barley suck a bottle. By the time she could truly eat my milk had dried up. It was a trial and error process with her.

I just think they need to educate and that it is someones choice and shouldnt be forced on anyone.

momtoMegan&Alyxandria replied:
AMEN SISTER!!!!! I did BF both of my girls, but that was MY choice, not some hospitals or doctors. I am sorry, they should try to push something onto someone, if they don't want to do it.

punkeemunkee'smom replied: ITA with Jeanne and Cary...I did feel pushed to FF because of injuries I had during pregnancy and then an emergency C...The nurse told me how much better my baby would sleep and how I was not giving her what she needed because my milk was slow in coming in That was a total load of crap...we ended up Bfing for 2 years without a bottle ever...I think woman should be encouraged to try BFing first-if you don't want to breastfeed then I think you should be prepared to buy the formula anyway. I am sure the formula companies will find a new way to 'give' you their free samples

coasterqueen replied:
ITA. Well said Cary.

coasterqueen replied:
They do. They'll send you checks to buy formula if you just fill out a card and send it back to them.

jcc64 replied:

You're absolutely right- no one should be forced to do anything they don't feel comfortable with- once they have all the CORRECT and ACCURATE information, as with all aspects of parenting, the onus is on the parents to make the right choice.
However, nowhere in this equation is anyone being forced to do anything. If someone is determined to bottle feed- how is the lack of a "gift bag" going to stop them? There aren't many places in this country where a store selling formula is inaccessible.

branmuffin replied: UGH! This issue makes me so angry!!!

I would have LOVED to breast-feed. I tried with my first but due to breast augmentation (to fix my "abnormal breast shape", not just for size issues), my milk ducts where cut in various places. I was told I may be able to BF, that I would just have to try.

Well, I tried and I did not produce enough milk. Pumping for an hour, I only got 2 ounces of milk, then the infection set in. And this is the same for my second baby too.

All the billboards that "promote" ((**Scream: You're a bad mom if you FF!!!)) BF is best for babies....Yes, it's best, but not everyone can! I don't know why all the hype lately for PUSHING BF is out there...there are TONS of healthy kids that were FF and there are TONS are kids that are healthy from BF and VISE VERSA!!!

Okay, I think I feel better now.