Yesterday, the NPR news reported on hospitals giving formual to new mothers as they leave the hospital. They stated that women who received freee formula samples were less likely to breastfeed than those mothers who did not receive the samples. They discussed the conflict of interest for OBs and hospitals who get money from formula companies to give out these samples and what has been empirically proven to be better for babies and mothers. In my area, 4 local hospitals have stopped giving formula samples to mothers leaving the hospital postpartum. I believe that the hospital where I gave birth is one of those because they were very encouraging of establishing a breastfeeding relationship and I did not receive any samples.
It seems an appropriate place to mention the "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding". Although, giving out free formula samples in not expressly mentioned, I believe that doing so is against the spirit of the initiative.
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