Sunday

breastfeeding in massachusetts

Recently, MA became the first state in the United States to legislatively enact a ban on hospitals handing out "free" formula samples to new mothers as they leave the hospital with their newborns. The reason? Because it's unethical for medical providers to act as sales reps for the pharmaceutical companies that make,market and sell infant formula. And that is what is happening when these gift bags of bottles and formula go home with new mothers.

Additionally, it's clear to anyone who works with new mothers that women who are given free infant formula are more likely to supplement breastfeeding with the artificial baby milk, as well as to give up entirely on breastfeeding within the first few weeks. When a doctor, nurse or hospital gives a new mother infant formula to take home, the message is "We know you SAY you plan to breastfeed, but really, we expect you to fail or at least supplement, so here's what we know you will need."

Even for mothers who leave the hospital knowing they do not choose to breastfeed, the brand of sample the hospital sends home with bottlefeeding mothers is a not so subtle endorsement of that particular brand.

Anyone who claims that the infant formula companies have no agends in giving away millions and millions of dollars in free product via hospital maternity wards each year is, well, beyond naive. Of course they have an agends. They don't do it just to be nice. They do it because they are well aware that free formula samples lessen the chance a new mother will start or continue breastfeeding. They know that supplementary bottles of formula in the first weeks of breastfeeding often throw the delicate supply-demand balance off just as women and their babies are trying to get the hang of nursing. They also know that many newborns cannot switch easily between breast and bottle nipple and will very quickly begin rejecting breast for bottle if given bottles in the first few weeks. Most of all they know that every woman who chooses to breastfeed rather than bottlefeed her baby represents a loss of at least $1,000 (that's a consrevative estimate) in sales of infant formula during that infant-consumer's first 12 months.

Let's say this very clearly: the companies that make, market and sell infant formula want people to buy their product. Of course they do. And breastfeeding women have no need for their product. Ergo, it is in their economic best interest to discourage women from breastfeeding any time and in every way they can. These hospital freebie giveaways are one of the most effective tools they have.

To take the argument a bit further, the pharma companies that sell infant formula ALSO make and sell the medicines that treat the myriad illnesses, major and minor, that non-breastfed babies and children are far more likely to develop.

Do the math.

I was very excited to hear about MA's freebie formula ban, but am angry and disppointed to see that a huge backlash has started against it, with editorials like this one claiming that ending the free formula takeaways means new mothers are being "coerced" into breastfeeding or "denied choice" in how to feed their babies.

This is a ridiculous argument as long as infant formula is still available on store shelves. Women can choose to feed their babies however they like, but it is not appropriate or ethical for the hospitals or doctors to act as sales reps for the companies selling a particular brand. If a woman wants infant formula, she can buy it, thus freely exercising her choice in both how she will feed her baby and what brand of artificial baby milk she will buy.

Here are a few articles I've written on this topic, if you are new to the subject and would like some background:

This one is an investigative piece I did on the huge influence the infant formula industry has on policy making in medical groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, and also on public health campaigns.

This article originally appeared in Salon.com and is a good overview on the unethical tactics of these formula companies and how the medical establishment is turning a blind eye. This one also offers a good round-up of the medical evidence that increasingly demonstrates that bottlefed babies in the United States have markedly higher levels of morbidity and mortality than breastfed children.

Here an excerpt from my book on the World Health Organization Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, and how formula companies are flouting it all over the world, especially in the U.S.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is why I read your blog. Kick some ass and take names, Katie.

Anonymous said...

Okay, so here's my question: What if a woman chooses not to breastfeed or is medically unable? Do you feel it is wrong to send her home with a few samples of formula? What about the diapers they send home? Isn't that pushing disposable instead of cloth? I made the decision not to breastfeed yet I was acosted by the "lactation expert" who came into my room and demanded to see my nipples! Not everyone makes the same decision as you, kag. And for you to "take names and kick ass" as anonymous suggests makes light of a woman's choice in this matter. I am tired of the breast-feeding police shoving their opinion down my throat.

And before you hop on your holy-parenting mountain, I have seen the research you love to spout. The research figures can be skewed by anyone with a brain. For the record, I have raised three amazingly healthy children, none of whom has had any ear problems. All very healthy! The formula the hospital sent home must have worked.

Anonymous said...

Seatbelts, who needs them? Statistics are crap, I say. I rode in the front seat of the car, unstrapped, for the first 4 years of my life, and I never got hurt.

Anonymous said...

Are you trying to infer that not wearing a seatbelt is the same as choosing not to breastfeet? You are not well. Maybe you should check into psycho-anonomous.

Anonymous said...

Are you trying to infer that not wearing a seatbelt is the same as choosing not to breastfeet?

No, I'm trying to infer that that you can't interpolate what value or lack of value breastfeeding has for a large population from the experiences of three people.

Steve K.

Lisa said...

And just in case they cannot convince you to give your baby their formula, they will try to convince you that your breastmilk is not good enough on it's own, that you need to take their DHA/ARA supplement!

Elizabeth said...

Anonymous number one: The woman can make whatever choice she wants to. She is free to do so. But giving out samples of formula is acting on the formula company's behalf, NOT acting in the best medical interests of their patients. The point is that formula companies are out there making a killing because their samples are given out at hospitals. Is that in the best interest of the mother and baby, or for big corporations? I don't think that diapers should be given out, either. Parents should make their own choices for their babies. The fact is that commercialism permeates every nook in society, and we don't even realize how much we are being advertised to.

Anonymous said...

I have been hospitalized as an adult quite a few times. the only things I got sent home with were the plastic wash basin and the water pitcher. These are issued to everyone and will be tossed in the trash if not taken. It would have been unethical for the hospital to have sent me home with a sample bag of any comercial product. Why should they.

When I had my five children, I went to the hospital to give birth, not to get a present. Funny, three of my babies were born overseas in Thailand, Norway and Hong Kong. I didn't get any gift bags from any of those hospitals. Only in the US were gift bags pushed on me- and I declined.

Maybe women how are in for a hysterectomy should be sent home with something "feminine" like a free bra and panties? Or a coupon from Victoria's Secret. How about free cigaretts? It is a free choice after all. Nobody forces you to smoke.

Naomi said...

I gave birth at a hospital that did not give away formula samples. Had I wanted formula samples, I could easily have signed up with a formula company and gotten cartloads. In fact, with my first daughter, I naively gave my address to a maternity clothing store, and they sold my information to everyone under the sun; I got several un-asked-for shipments of free formula, and piles of coupons that I could have redeemed.

If a hospital doesn't give out free formula, this doesn't force anyone to breastfeed. It doesn't even deny formula-feeding mothers free formula; it just makes it clear that the free formula is coming from the companies that make it, and it has no stamp of medical approval that a hospital's "gift" of formula implies.

Anonymous said...

katie, I heard the MA law fell through at the last minute, thanks to someone with the right amount of money and power. I wonder what's true.