Breastfeeding Gestapo Moves to Ban Free Formula Samples from Hospitals

[Renew Deal]

When you deliver a baby in a hospital you get a nice big swag bag of supplies to take home with you. Mine contained swaddle blankets, diapers, Vaseline, a baby brush, a nasal aspirator, giant maxi pads, mesh panties, nipples, and baby formula. But the consumer advocate group Public Citizen takes exception to the formula freebies. In a letter sent out to 2600 hospitals across the country they demand that healthcare facilities "immediately discontinue the distribution of commercial infant formula manufacturer discharge bags," claiming it undermines women's success at breastfeeding. What they failed to explain is why a woman's decision regarding her own tits is anyone's fucking business but her own.

While Public Citizen says that hospitals that include the formula samples in discharge bags are complicit in unethical corporate marketing of these products and cites studies that suggest a link between the free samples and mothers who are "less likely to breastfeed exclusively and more likely to breastfeed for shorter durations," the real issue is the organization's preference for exclusive breastfeeding. They say it's "best for babies, mothers and communities," and its bias against formula is borderline illogical, referring to it as a "potentially harmful product to new moms."

The hand-wringing in the letter is a little over-the-top:

Hospital promotion of infant formula through dissemination of these discharge bags contravenes this consensus, needlessly and inexcusably harming babies and families. Moreover, formula feeding imposes a significant burden on the nation's economy. Breastfeeding saves families and the economy countless dollars.

http://jezebel.com/5900729/breastfeeding-gestapo-moves-to-ban-free-formula-samples-from-hospitals

[Hepburn]

1. Another "pro-choice" issue as far as I am concerned.

Up to the mother...her choice. PERIOD. She also may have problems and want to supplement with formula. Really no business but hers.

JMHO

[tralala]

2. "breastfeeding gestapo"

[Autumn]

3. That's just wrong of them to do that

I think any woman can decide what is "best for babies, mothers and communities," what the fuck communities have to do with it is beyond me.

[liberalhistorian]

7. Thank you! I had my son

21 years ago and thought about breastfeeding, but couldn't make it work, literally, my breasts just were not cooperating. I was also a single parent living with my own parents and fighting depression; it would have been very difficult to breastfeed at that time. I couldn't believe how guilty I was made to feel for not doing so and how judgmental so many people were. Funny how THEY weren't the ones who would have had to have dealt with it, like me. If a mother wants to breastfeed and can make it work, great, go for it, it's her business and her choice. If she doesn't and uses formula, that's fine, too, and that's entirely her business and her choice. No one else should have any say it it whatsoever.

It's kinda like the circumcision debate. I chose not to have my son circumcised and holy shit, you would have thought I'd decided to starve him to death or something. That's also entirely the parents' choice, either way. Uh-oh, now I've really opened things up, lol!

[Autumn]

10. It's a matter of choice, and the breast feeding gestapo should

STFU. Nobody's fucking business but the woman's.

[Ian David]

4. When we had our daughter, we called the lactation specialist "The Nipple Nazi."

They may all start off with the best of intentions, but we did not have a good experience with her.

And we've spoken to others who have had bad experiences with the Nipple Nazis.

[liberalhistorian]

9. I had that same issue 21 years ago with my son!

I'd had a C-section and my milk just wasn't coming in. I wanted to breastfeed, but finally just decided against it; as a single parent I had enough stress and problems on my plate. Well, you would have thought I'd decided to just not feed him at all and throw him to the wolves or something. She turned into a really rude bitch, I had to ask that she not enter my room anymore. Who the hell was she to judge me?

[Ian David]

13. One of the things The Nipple Nazi made my wife do...

... was tape plastic tubes to her nipples to feed our baby if we insisted on supplementing with formula.

Really.

[liberalhistorian]

16. I would have told her just where to put it and what to do

with it!! That's just totally uncalled-for.

[Autumn]

18. WTF?? Please tell me your wife told the Nipple Nazi to

go fuck herself.

[Ian David]

19. No. We just waited until she was gone and took the tubes off. n/t

[GreenPartyVoter]

29. I tried doing that when my milk was starting to run dry. Was hoping my son would finally start

nursing more and get the supply back up, but no dice.

[TheWraith]

6. "Breastfeeding gestapo"? Cut the shit.

It's not exactly news that formula is less healthy for newborn babies than breastmilk. Trying to pretend otherwise goes against just about every study of newborns, and distributing "the first one is free" formula to every new parent is little more than the hospital equivalent of NASCAR sponsorship, giving the companies that donate the goods a leg up.

[Fumesucker]

11. Closer to a drug dealer giving "free samples"..

[lunasun]

30. Public Citizen is a very good advocacy group

They are "urging" hosptials not to market for drug companies

It'd be an initial step to become fully compliant with the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.

They are having a comedy fundraiser with Ray Romano next week-remember him- and Dana Gould from the Simpsons
Morgan Murphy. Wrndy Lebermann and Rick Overton will do bits too

[liberalhistorian]

12. Oh, bullshit.

Drama much? Yes, breastfeeding may indeed be healthier, but it's often just not practical or possible and those samples are more than appreciated. Mothers have the right to decide this for themselves without being hounded and harassed by purists who don't have to deal with it the way she does. I sure hope you weren't like the lactation bitch I had to deal with when my own son was born; rude, pushy, judgmental, harassing, etc.

[jeff47]

17. Yes, it was that "first one is free" that forced us to use Pampers.

After all, there were Pampers in the take-home bag. So we have no choice. We must use Pampers for the rest of our child's diaper years.

Oh wait, we're using Huggies since they were on sale.

Your argument requires parents to be really dumb. While the lack of sleep definitely reduces mental facilities, people are aware the freebies are not an endorsement.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. You know what, Godwin? I come from a family that had people die in the camps.

Eliminating free formula samples from L/D rooms does not merit the moniker "Gestapo".

[Crunchy Frog]

28. +1000.

[emilyg]

14. Unrec.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. I had two kids, one bottlefed and one breastfed, so I feel qualified to speak on this issue.

My first son couldn't breastfeed. I tried for weeks, even employing external gadgets to assist with it. I expressed milk for him until at 6 weeks I dried up. The truth is we were not well off financially at the time and it was helpful to us that not only the hospital gave us free formula, but so did the visiting nurse. She snuck us a couple of cases in each visit while we waited for WIC to kick in.

Would I have rather breastfed him? Of course! Did I realize the stress we were adding to the environment by using bottles and liners and formula? Yes. But in the end I had a baby who needed sustenance, so formula and bottles were what we had to do. I still managed to bond with him anyway, and as far as I can tell he suffered no ill effects from the experience.

[riderinthestorm]

20. The freebies are advertising samples and yes, they DO hope to persuade you to use their products

More diapers, diaper rash creme, baby changing pads, nursery toys, baby shampoo, pedialyte... virtually anything is fair game to be included. Why MUST hospitals provide formula? Why not other equally useful "swag"? (or none at all since parents are fully capable of making their own decisions?)

Fact is, the science really does indicate that breastfeeding is best. But even if you don't want to "go there", there's nothing that says formula has to be one of the items.

Using "gestapo" in this context is really overboard as well imho.

[dionysus]

21. i hope they don't ever meet any actual Gestapo...

[janx]

23. No kidding. n/t

[ZombieHorde]

22. I really like the free samples, but Jezebel's headline is a bit much.

"Gestapo" is not really fair. I don't think hardcore breastfeeding advocates should be compared to Nazis, unless of course, they start suggesting formula moms be rounded up.

[Zax2me]

24. Really? Free?

Who pays?!
My mom and dad should could have used this raising us.
Guess we were late - or early - for the hand outs.

[madinmaryland]

25. I guess they must have had lunch at the Olive Garden...

[Fawke Em]

26. I never got mesh panties, giant maxis, a baby brush and Vaseline!

WTF are mesh panties?

[gkhouston]

32. Super stretchy panties to hold the giant maxis in place.

I'm old enough to remember the days before pads with sticky backs, so I just used safety pins.

[2ndAmForComputers]

27. I like some inflamed rhetoric every now and then, but that headline is just stupid.

[ejpoeta]

31. i really liked the free samples. I breastfed but

sometimes I couldn't express enough and my husband would give our daughter a bottle of enfamil when I just had to get out of the house for a break. I loved it. I think they should not ban them, though Ithink they have all but done that here already. Not sure but I think they have. I support a woman's right to choose. When I had my oldest I tried to breastfeed but didn't do a good job and ended up having to bottle feed her. I would have had to anyway because I was working and am pretty sure my job wouldn't have been happy to have me take time out of my day to express milk.

When I had my second child I breastfed partially for financial reasons and because I wanted to. Had better help and succeeded. Breastfed my third child also. But that was a choice I made. I resent another way for women to be looked down upon. Breastfeeding isn't easy. I spent a lot of time separated from everyone while feeding my kids. I was the only one I knew who was breastfeeding. It was painful at times. Once they started biting that was the end of breastfeeding. I have a scar from my middle child.

I don't agree with bullying. Or making a woman feel she has no choice. I have known women who insisted on breastfeeding even though their kid wasn't getting the nutrition they needed. That can be dangerous to the kid. Not everyone can do it. Be it their need to work or their body not being able to. And not everyone wants to. This should not be another way to make women feel like they are less than they are in a sea of ways to make women feel bad about themselves.

If they want to breastfeed, then a bag with samples isn't going to change that. Let's just let women make that choice for themselves. Why do people think we are not capable of doing that?