Here's my BIG issue
Sat, 2007-12-01 14:16
OK, I admit that I haven't read the entire site (I do have small kids to attend to...) , so I may be repeating something here, BUT>>>
My big issue with formula companies giving samples at hospitals is that it erodes choice from the mother. If your baby is fed a formula in the hospital for any reason, generally you are told to not change unless there is a problem. They say that switching formulas can cause upsets and problems and the process of gradually weaning off one brand and onto another is complicated. So, if your hospital gets kickbacks from, say, Brand X, it's pretty much a given that a new mom (who is already stressed and confused enough) is going to stick with Brand X. Was she given a choice in brands (I know I wasn't!). Did she do research about which companies are higher quality or add additional nutrients and make a decision based on her own knowledge? Where would you even find such research? Certainly the hospital who provided Brand X formula didn't provide any supplemental nutritional information.
Basically, unless there is a problem, whichever formula company has "bought" your hospital is the brand that you will use if you choose to bottle feed. I think that is wrong, wrong, wrong. I'm surprised that they are allowed to get away with it. They could argue that the mother has a choice, which she does. But what new mother is going to take the time to figure it all out when she could just open a packet that she already has, that's already been fed to her baby and give it to her hungry child?
These formula companies say it's all about choice while at the same time are actively fighting to remove choice from new mothers. Ironic isn't it?
Ravensroost, I totally agree. A) There is some phenomenally deliberately deceptive/slippery wordplay going on in the formula industry rhetoric (i.e. "choice" and "freedom"); and B) the hospital as nodal point for infusing the formula industry's advertising with all the power of the medical profession's expertise is really hard for any mother or family to resist. It's a winning combination for formula manufacturers and hospitals alike -- it's purely driven by profit -- and it has American families by the short hairs. Well said.