Does it help to send back formula samples?

[BreezyMom]

I just received a formula sample in the mail today. My mom argues that I should give it to a mom in need. My first impulse is usually to send it back with a note saying that formula samples undermine breastfeeding, but does this do any good, or does it just make me feel better?

[Mama2Rio]

i just give it to a mama in need, although i would love to see more people bfing! an ex-coworker took some off my hands for a teen mom he knew... there's always some one in need. even though i would never want to give it to my LO, you could do a great deal of good by giving it to some one else who could use it.

[songbh]

Formula samples are advertising. Circulating their advertising helps the corporation sell more formula, in part by undermining breastfeeding.

I would send back the formula samples (thus costing the corporation the extra postage, which can't be cheap, and refusing to help them out by spreading their advertising to others.)

Then I would write a check to the food bank or women's shelter in my community, so they can buy what they need for their clients, including formula.

[KimberlyD0]

Originally Posted by songbh

Formula samples are advertising. Circulating their advertising helps the corporation sell more formula, in part by undermining breastfeeding.

I would send back the formula samples (thus costing the corporation the extra postage, which can't be cheap, and refusing to help them out by spreading their advertising to others.)

Then I would write a check to the food bank or women's shelter in my community, so they can buy what they need for their clients, including formula.

I agree and disagree with this.

It is advertising yes, but if your giving it to someone who already uses it then your not advertising anything to them. They're already using it. No everyone who FF does so by choice. As I said I was in the position with DD#1 I live where BF is the norm and FF is "the devils food" I got more insults and hurtful stairs and all that while FF then I have for BF. I relize thats not the norm, but it shouldn't be the case for EITHER side.

I guess I figure if I can help out another mom who doesn't have options then I should.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by songbh

Formula samples are advertising. Circulating their advertising helps the corporation sell more formula, in part by undermining breastfeeding.

I would send back the formula samples (thus costing the corporation the extra postage, which can't be cheap, and refusing to help them out by spreading their advertising to others.)

Then I would write a check to the food bank or women's shelter in my community, so they can buy what they need for their clients, including formula.

:
I completely agree with this. Baby-friendly hospitals have to buy any formula they use (and they do use quite a bit of formula if they don't have a milk bank) rather than having it donated by a formula company. There is a reason for that - even though it increases their costs substantially.

I'd add in that I would then call the formula company and demand to be removed from their mailing list.

[Phoenix~Mama]

I have donated all the samples I have received as well as any coupons to a single Mom I know that has to FF.

I can't stand getting them though and it really irks me. On all the questionairre things I have marked that I breastfeed, yet they still send formula samples.

[songbh]

Originally Posted by KimberlyD0

I agree and disagree with this.

It is advertising yes, but if your giving it to someone who already uses it then your not advertising anything to them. They're already using it. No everyone who FF does so by choice. As I said I was in the position with DD#1 I live where BF is the norm and FF is "the devils food" I got more insults and hurtful stairs and all that while FF then I have for BF. I relize thats not the norm, but it shouldn't be the case for EITHER side.

I guess I figure if I can help out another mom who doesn't have options then I should.

I think I should clarify my post above. What I object to is not formula use, but the advertising of specific formula brands. And I certainly neither said nor intended to imply anything at all about the motivations of mothers who feed their babies formula.

My goal in the actions I described above is to help mothers get the formula they need from local food banks or shelters WITHOUT helping circulate a specific brand's advertising.

Store-brand formula is just as good as the big name brands and costs a lot less, in large part b/c it doesn't spend much on advertising (such as "free" sample mailings.) My donation to a local food bank or shelter allows those who work directly with the community to decide what stuff to buy, including formula of whatever brand and price best meets the needs of their clients.

Leveraging corporate interests into charitable or public-good agendas through product donations is a very old trick of the formula trade. That's how our WIC programs have come to be flooded with massive amounts of below-cost Similac or Enfamil over the decades, and that is what drives the formula-bag distribution in hospital maternity wards. This both undermines breastfeeding AND promotes unwarranted brand loyalty among consumers.

If a box of formula showed up on my doorstep, I would choose NOT to participate in this system of promoting specific formula brands, and I would find some other way of supporting local families in need. Our local charities need cash more than any in-kind donations, and my family is fortunate enough to make at least small charitable contributions on a regular basis.

This is what I would do. I'm not saying this is what everyone would or should do. And I'm certainly NOT trying demonize formula use or criticize mothers who feed formula to their babies.

[annettemarie]

Please let's not turn this into a "formula isn't poison" debate. I would hope that we can all acknowledge that formula is at times necessary and that it saves lives, and as such, it's a good and useful thing for babies who, for whatever reason, don't have access to breastmilk. That isn't what this thread is about. It's about what to do with unsolicited formula samples.

[jeliphish]

Why not just donate it to a mom in need like you mom suggested. There are plenty of mom's a your local social services who would greatly benifit from it.

[BreezyMom]

I've donated past formula samples, hoping that it was going to a mom that needed to use formula or was already using formula. I'm so sick of free formula samples, though and the predatory advertising tactics....

[KimberlyD0]

Originally Posted by songbh

I think I should clarify my post above. What I object to is not formula use, but the advertising of specific formula brands. And I certainly neither said nor intended to imply anything at all about the motivations of mothers who feed their babies formula.

My goal in the actions I described above is to help mothers get the formula they need from local food banks or shelters WITHOUT helping circulate a specific brand's advertising.

Store-brand formula is just as good as the big name brands and costs a lot less, in large part b/c it doesn't spend much on advertising (such as "free" sample mailings.) My donation to a local food bank or shelter allows those who work directly with the community to decide what stuff to buy, including formula of whatever brand and price best meets the needs of their clients.

Leveraging corporate interests into charitable or public-good agendas through product donations is a very old trick of the formula trade. That's how our WIC programs have come to be flooded with massive amounts of below-cost Similac or Enfamil over the decades, and that is what drives the formula-bag distribution in hospital maternity wards. This both undermines breastfeeding AND promotes unwarranted brand loyalty among consumers.

If a box of formula showed up on my doorstep, I would choose NOT to participate in this system of promoting specific formula brands, and I would find some other way of supporting local families in need. Our local charities need cash more than any in-kind donations, and my family is fortunate enough to make at least small charitable contributions on a regular basis.

This is what I would do. I'm not saying this is what everyone would or should do. And I'm certainly NOT trying demonize formula use or criticize mothers who feed formula to their babies.

I know thats not what you ment. I didn't explain well.

I agree Non name brand is generally just as good as the name brand. However you also can't change your babies formula with the drop of a hat. It can really mess with your babies system. Not all parents use, or can use store brand formulas. For example my best friends son was 3 days younger then my DD, she tried for months to BF with no success and finally had to use formula. She needed to use Soy because of allergies, well at the time there was no no name soy formula, so BF friends would send for samples of the soy formula that she used so they could help her out by giving her the samples. I had to use Good Start for DD it was the only one she could eat, so BF friends again sent for samples and gave them too me.

Sometimes there isn't a choice on what brand to use.

So in that regard, since it was a brand needed, and since it was requested, I don't see it as advertising.

I don't know how things work in the US, but I have never once recieved a sample of formula without asking for it, we also don't get a gift bag of any sort from the hospital. Maybe thats why I see it different.

The kindness that was shown to me when I had no way out is what made me decide to ask for samples to give to other FF mom's who trully need it.

[G8P4]

The thing is, everyone pays for the samples in so many ways. Nothing is “free”. Perhaps if no one asked for, or got, free samples, if everyone could agree on this, if governments and hospitals didn’t allow the companies to provide free samples of formula, what do you think the cost of formula would be? The cost of the samples is passed on to everyone who is buying the formula. If we all said “no” to the free samples formula MIGHT be cheaper for EVERYBODY who needed it.

[songbh]

Originally Posted by KimberlyD0

I don't know how things work in the US, but I have never once recieved a sample of formula without asking for it, we also don't get a gift bag of any sort from the hospital. Maybe thats why I see it different.

Thanks for your further explanation. I think things work quite differently these days in the U.S. Formula companies are sending multiple large cans of their product unsolicited to expectant and new mothers. I've heard stories of newly postpartum mothers dragging their exhausted selves and tiny nurslings to the post office to pick up what they assume will be a congratulatory gift from a loved one only to receive a heavy box of formula that they never asked for and don't want. Nearly all hospitals in the U.S. distribute formula samples to new mothers. Nearly all OBs and an awful lot of midwives pass them out to their pregnant patients. I've even heard of one mother who had an unregistered homebirth with an under-the-radar lay midwife -- but made the mistake of purchasing a single box of newborn diapers at the grocery store -- who within DAYS was receiving formula samples in the mail.

The U.S. also has a supplemental food program (WIC) that provides a significant amount of formula to families in need, and you can qualify with a household income that is significantly above the official poverty line. I know this doesn't meet the needs of every family who uses formula, but I think it comes close. Free WIC formula is actually a big factor in the lower breastfeeding rates among lower-socioeconomic-status mothers in the U.S. And as I noted upthread, as excellent as the intentions behind the WIC program are, it nonetheless serves as a good example of the ethical problems involved with formula marketing.

I'm sorry for the troubles that you and your friend had in being able to afford the right food for your babies. I can see why you appreciated the industry's practice of sending samples upon request. Perhaps you can also see the perspective from which others of us are writing. The bigger picture suggests that far more mothers and babies in the U.S. are harmed than helped by the constant deluge of brand-name formula samples.

[KimberlyD0]

I do see it. Its not as prevelent where I am. As I said I am blessed to live where BF is just the norm. When I was FF I was actually in the manority. Being in the situation did however give me a new appreasiation for those who also feel, justly or not, that they have no options.

The system is not perfict. Sometimes I wish we had a WIC program. Maybe then I wouldn't have had to reley on the food bank so much when DD#1 was a baby.

When you have not been in that situation of not having anything, its hard to really understand it.

I see where your going with WIC. Or I think you do. I admit the program is a mistery to me. Do they not help provide LC's or anything? I think that in itself would make one of the biggest differences. If LC's had not been covered by my provincial healthcare I doubt I would be here at 10 months still successfully BF. Those services were not offered with my first, and I know part of me feels maybe that would have made the difference. All there was, was LLL and all they did was tell me anyone could do it, it was easy, or IO just wasn't trying hard enough, and those were the nice comments.

I admit I am blessed in that I have never once had a negative look or comment about BF, I wish I could say the same about FF, but I got nothing but negativity and felt very put down. I know now that wasn't the intent, it was that they really wanted me to BF, but the approch was too strong, and actually pushed moms away. The LLL is no longer even in our city, they were not welcome. We made our own breastfeeding peer support program, of which I am now a member, we've approched it differently.

Not knowing how thing work in the US I am often shocked by some of what I read, I know its true, but its so unbelieveable.

I suppose you could say I live in a Bubble, cause it happens in Canada too, but not to the same degree.

[windsorheightsmom]

I would give the free formula samples to a local food bank if they are delivered to your home.

If you are in a store or public place and are offered a free formula sample, I would politely decline.

[JollyGG]

Just to add - In most area's WIC will provide a pump to a nursing mom who meets the criteria for their services. I don't know why, but for some reason this does not seem to be as well know as it should be.

[Wildwomyn]

I work in findraising for a NYC social services organization and a while ago I was contacted by someone who works in our Bronx family programs about donations of infant formula - she said that food banks/pantries don't carry it. No idea if this is just a quirk of the particular ones these particular people went to, but you may not be able to assume a financial donation will provide for infants.

[LittleBlessings]

I agree with your mom and think you should give it to a mom in need

[weliveintheforest]

I can't see it helping to send the formula back. Everyone would have to do it, and I can't see most people doing that.

[LittleBlessings]

Originally Posted by the_lissa

Yes I agree most people can physically breastfeed (though of course there are a lot of other factors why low income women can't breastfeed, such as having to return to minimum wage jobs with no time or way to pump, for one example.)

I would feel different if the issue was donating formula to pregnant moms. Women getting formula from a food bank of women's shelter have already made the decision to formula feed. While relactating is an option, it is not possible for every woman.

well said