Personal Perceptions

I read a blog the other day in The New York Times  that sparked my interest.   It was triggered by a study published in  The American Journal of Public Health, called “Infant Formula Marketing Through Hospitals: the Impact of Commercial Hospital Discharge Packs on Breastfeeding." If you read the blog, titled "Formula Freebies Cut Breastfeeding Time" you come away thinking "Oh those big bad formula companies.  They're trying to buy your vote (or your dollar) at the cost of promoting what's in the best interest of mom and baby, namely breastfeeding." 

The study surveyed nearly 4000 women in Oregon who had babies in 2000 and 2001.  Two-thirds of those who were breastfeeding when they left the hospital also received "goodie bags"---those bags you get when you leave the maternity ward, with disposable diapers, pacifiers, a formula sample and other things in them.  The writer says those bags dramatically impacted whether moms continued to breastfeed after they left the hospital.  She cites the results of the study saying  "Women who received the packs were 39 percent more likely to stop exclusive breastfeeding at 10 weeks or sooner than those who didn’t receive free formula."  And she quotes the researchers saying  “The distribution of these packs to new mothers at hospitals is part of a longstanding marketing campaign by infant formula manufacturers and implies hospital and staff endorsement of infant formula......Commercial hospital discharge pack distribution should be reconsidered in light of its negative impact on exclusive breastfeeding.'’

Now, my first reaction, one you've heard me say over and over again, is that I don't for a minute believe that those small samples of formula given in the bags influence a mother's decision as to how to feed her child.  Again, call me crazy, but I know I made that decision long before I got to the hospital.  I think most women do.  But, I do understand why people might perceive (perceive being the operative word here) that the bags undermine breastfeeding.  But do they really?   Being curious, I went to the website of the International Formula Council to see their point of view.  Not surprisingly they had a rebuttal of that study. 

According to the IFC the researchers cited five studies on infant feeding decisions that compared people who got goodie bags with formula samples in them, with those who either didn't get the goodie bags at all, or got them without formula samples.  Only two of the studies showed an association with infant feeding choices. Three showed no association at all.

On top of that, the researchers didn't take into consideration the fact that these women may have stopped breastfeeding because they had to return to work!!!!!!  Several studies have linked women returning to work with a decline in breastfeeding after a few months.  It's not exactly a secret that many mothers have to stop breastfeeding because they have to return to work.  It's also not a secret that most workplaces aren't pumping-conducive (something we need to work on). 

And, the IFC states that  even the study's authors say there was no data proving that the women surveyed could accurately remember getting a goodie bag!  (Are you kidding me?)  Plus the data was pulled from hospitals and health care professionals who were able to choose whether or not to distribute the bags.  And mothers were given the choice as to whether or not to accept them.  So the controls in the study are not exactly iron-tight by a long shot. 

Finally, the study was based on data available from only one state: Oregon (which has the highest rate in the country of women who breastfeed exclusively).  The researchers state that the results "cannot be generalized beyond Oregon."

Bottom line, you can rationalize things any way you want.  People do it all the time whether deciding whether to send their child to public school or private school,  whether to vote for a Republican or Democrat, or whether to feed their child by breast or formula.  There's always an argument on both sides.   But each of those decisions is personal and, one would hope, well thought out by the decision-maker.