Hospital goodies?!

[Preciousfaerie7]

I was wondering if you guys got a hopital package after labor, you know the ones that say "Its a girl" and has a package of diapers and etc. I know the hospital in my hometown had them but i wasn't for sure if it was just them or if other hospitals did it. I would ask my dr. but i dont go until wed. and i'm really curious now loll..

[veganf]

If you're referring to the ones that also contain little bottles of formula, they're now illegal here in MA, which I'm really happy about. I've never had a baby in a hospital, but my SIL had all 4 of her boys in the hospital and I know she was send home with loads of free "stuff", it was kind of ridiculous I thought! But I suppose some people are unprepared for having a baby, so maybe it can be helpful.

- krista

[Bellasmom]

We were given a couple of diaper bags from formula companies, of course including formula and a bottle. I ended up giving the formula to a food bank, and using the bottle for milk storage when I was pumping. One of the bags was black with no formula advertising, so we ended up using that for awhile. We also were encouraged to take home all opened packages (and some unopened packages) of diapers, thermometer, post-partum pads, Tucks, etc - once a packaged has been opened for a particular mom/baby it cannot be used for someone else.
This time I am taking NB CD to the hospital, and will be bringing my own pads again, so hopefully less waste!
Angela

[beanbean]

You usually get a bag -- either breastfeeding or bottle feeding.

If you're offered one or the other, and plan to breastfeed, I suggest getting the formula kit and donating the formula. That's what I plan to do this time!

BTW, that's ridiculous that it's ILLEGAL in MA to give out formula! What a waste of tax dollars to pass that legislation.

[charmcitymama]

BTW, that's ridiculous that it's ILLEGAL in MA to give out formula! What a waste of tax dollars to pass that legislation.

Do you know how much it costs taxpayers to formula feed babies?

[danav]

My birth center (free standing - not a hospital) gave me a "goodie bag" that included lots of booklets about breastfeeding, the current Mothering magazine, a Lamaze magazine, a package of post-partum pads, peri bottle, and lots of samples with coupons - Huggies, A&D ointment, Lansinoh, and Traditional Medicinals Mother's Milk tea bags.

beanbean - I believe the intent of that legislation (which I think is GREAT) is to work towards getting hospitals out of the formula companies' pockets. The formula companies, in giving out these "diaper bags" stuffed with formula info, formula, bottles and coupons get tons of free advertising... and it comes across as the hospital promoting formula feeding. It's essentially direct advertising to brand new parents with the impression of being with the hospital's (and doctor's) blessing and endorsement, undermining breastfeeding at it's most vulnerable time. It's not like they are making formula unavailable to those who need it - they are simply trying to put a stop to aggressive advertising by formula companies and trying to help promote more successful breastfeeding relationships rather than pushing formula on EVERY new mom. (Noah was transferred to the hospital from our birth center. When he was discharged, we were given one of those Enfamil diaper bags, labeled "For BREASTFEEDING Mothers", and it contained formula ads, coupons, and a huge can of powdered formula...what the H*** was THAT all about?!)

[boycrazy]

Hospital that give out this formula are working against the #6 of the baby friendly hospital innitiative (http://www.vahealth.org/breastfeeding/friendly.pdf) set up by the World Health Organization.

http://www.breastfeedingtaskforla.org/WHOcode.htm

[mommystinch]

Wow! I can't believe someone on here is against the formula ban. Those bags undermine breastfeeding for a lot of interested moms because it is so easy for a tired, confussed mom to use their "just in case" samples in the middle of the night or when they are having trouble getting started with breastfeeding. As many of us know, supplementing at all will cause your milk supply to decrease, which can be detrimental to establishing a good supply. If you are interested in learning more, there is a thread or two about this alread in the breastfeeding forums.

Personally, I like what my lactation consultant suggested. Supposingly, my birth center has the formula company bags available. I'm thinking they only have the breastfeeding bags, but still, I think it's pretty sad that they have them. Her suggestion is that the best way to get those bags out of the birth center (and probably hospitals, too, although it would be much harder) is to refuse them. Even if you are planning on getting a breastfeeding mom bag, and the diaper bag is cute, don't take it. By taking it at all, you are supporting the formula company's efforts.

As of the original question, I have only had a birth center birth, and they did not provide any sort of new mom bag. They now have one you can buy, but I'm not spending $20 on a canvas bag with pads, a peri bottle, some stretchy underwear, etc. They did give my dd a cute little hand knitted hat. I think you'll find something different at every hospital, though. A friend of mine recently got a huge bag from the hospital with all sorts of post partum helpers in it.

[beanbean]

Wow! I can't believe someone on here is against the formula ban. Those bags undermine breastfeeding for a lot of interested moms because it is so easy for a tired, confussed mom to use their "just in case" samples in the middle of the night or when they are having trouble getting started with breastfeeding. As many of us know, supplementing at all will cause your milk supply to decrease, which can be detrimental to establishing a good supply. If you are interested in learning more, there is a thread or two about this alread in the breastfeeding forums.

Thanks, I don't need the info!

I just think legislating it is kind of silly -- I agree that hospitals should not "push" formula feeding, but I get free samples of all sorts of things, and those don't "make" me choose anything.

Just my 2 cents - I think very few women who FF will choose to BF if they don't get a token sample of formula at the hospital.

FWIW, I got tons of formula coupons last time, and I hadn't requested any.

Overall, I'm not much in favor of "banning" -- much more in favor of educating.

[Danielsmom]

This is an interesting debate and one I've thought a lot about (I'm from MA).
I got one of those formula bags and I had fully intended to breastfeed. I had some health complications after ds's delivery and having the formula did help me get through a tough time. We supplemented. Looking back I am not sure if I needed to supplement (for me and ds) or if I would have been better off just trying to exclusively bf.

But one thing I liked about those bags was that it included a FABULOUS little booklet with excerpts from kathleen (her last name begins with an H) about breastfeeding. I read it religiously, kept bfing my son and after 3 weeks was able to exclusively breastfeed him.

I think the downside of those bags is if someone is on the fence about bf'ing and she/her family has access to formula, then they may reach for the formula instead of calling a lactation consultation or LLL. And I can understand that tendency. It is really awkward to put yourself out there and call a stranger to ask for help. I remember calling the hospital where I delivered my son to see if they could recommend any postpartum help (I wish I had known about doulas then) and they were kind but didn't have any good suggestions. No one will ever know how tough it was for me to make that phone call.

Instead of a formula bag, why not some practical support for mom, like phone numbers of postpartum doulas, home health aides, LLL, lactation consultants, fenugreek tea, the hotline of a PPD support group, and new moms groups in the area, etc?

[AndiG]

I just think legislating it is kind of silly -- I agree that hospitals should not "push" formula feeding, but I get free samples of all sorts of things, and those don't "make" me choose anything.

Just my 2 cents - I think very few women who FF will choose to BF if they don't get a token sample of formula at the hospital.

FWIW, I got tons of formula coupons last time, and I hadn't requested any.

Overall, I'm not much in favor of "banning" -- much more in favor of educating.

Interesting perspective.
There is a really huge need for bfing education and resources in America. I guess legislating a ban to support an international initiative doesn't seem like a silly or wasteful thing to me.
While I agree in principle with this statement "I think very few women who FF will choose to BF if they don't get a token sample of formula at the hospital", I know of a LOT of women who were planning to bf and some who did it successfully who were undermined by the sample they took home. That sample, in the cupboard may seen innocuous enough at first, but in the midst of a six week growth spurt, with a screaming toddler, a screaming baby and a stressed out partner, may in the end reach for that sample, thereby undermining their attempts to breast feed and starting down the slippery slope of supplementation.

[ShellyK]

There is another little factoid that I read somewhere about formula companies and marketing. They like to market to women who are planning to breastfeed from the start because those women are likely to keep their babies on either breastmilk or formula longer than women who start on formula from the beginning. As in, if you start off breastfeeding and wean to formula at 3 or 6 months, you're more likely to keep your kid on straight formula past a year and give more of it. Versus, if you start off on formula only, you're more likely to switch to plain cow's milk sooner. I can't remember where I read this, so I'm not sure I'm remembering it exactly correctly - forgive me if I misstated it.

Anyway, our hospital last time offered us the formula in the diaper bag and it came with a breastfeeding pamphlet and a couple diaper-goo samples I think. I took the bag and the other samples but asked the nurse to give the formula to some other patient she thought needed it more than I did. The hospital we use is a county one and they have a lot of low-income patients, so I thought I was doing a good thing since I was planning to BF exclusively (and did). This time, I'll turn the whole thing down entirely. We never did use that little diaper bag - it was poorly made and too small for all the junk I wanted to carry around!

[krizty]

Our hospital is totally for BF. Maybe because I was BF I didn't notice any formula anywhere. They didn't give it to me as an option. The nurses and lactation consultant were there to help if you need it. They offered a class prior to having a baby on how to BF and what to do to make it easier. I don't think it would have been an easy experience without that class.

They didnt give me a "bag" of goodies but they kept restocking the diapers, wipes and stuff for us. I took a couple, but then I tried a different brand and realized just how cheap the hospital ones are. Next time I'd rather just bring my own.

[PancakeGoddess]

Do you know how much it costs taxpayers to formula feed babies?

and to treat sick babies who could have gotten well without hospitalization (or not been sick at all) had they been given the breastmilk?

I'm generally anti-legislation on things like this, but something must stop these big pharma companies from victimizing ignorant women and children. Education is great, and it's improving, but new mamas are sometimes RAW and vulnerable, and all the knowledge in the world doesn't help in that situation.

[april77]

With dd our hospital gave us a fairly nice diaper bag filled with samples and coupons. Mainly baby wash, diaper cream, stuff like that. They also put in any open packs of diapers and wipes, the snot sucker and all the other stuff baby used. I don't remember it having any formula advertisments or coupons in it. I think it did have a breastfeeding pamphlet. They give this in addition to the formula company bags.

I'm curious to see what they are giving away this time and if they still push taking the formula company bag. They really didn't want us to leave without it last time, which was odd because they were very breastfeeding friendly overall.