I do not condone what is happening in most of our hospitals around the country, but I think it is very unfair to single out Florida Hospital. Hospitals around the country still get free supplies from formula companies. Most hospitals are not baby friendly, and most would have formula vendors at Baby Fairs, conferences and continuing ed programs. Formula companies still play a major role in WIC programs. Several years ago, our Breastfeeding Coalition tried to explain to a Hospital employed nurse WHY we would NOT accept a formula vendor for our Breastfeeding program. Her reasoning was that they provide sponsorship for their ed programs at the hospital on a regular basis. Her thought process was, "We should just get over it--they are here to stay." I do not accept this philosophy, but I also do not think it is fair to single out one hospital when this is common practice throughout most U.S. hospitals. Very few people understand the impact formula companies have or even argue it. Just visit any Mother-Baby unit, and you can see the impact that formula companies have, from choice of formula to those little red and yellow nipples that go so well with breastfeeding. If we want to make a big deal about this little article on Florida Hospital, than we should probably compile a list that would include almost every OB hospital in the nation minus the 50 baby friendly hospitals as of July, 2005. Debbie Albert, RN, Ph.D., LMHC, IBCLC, RLC Tampa Lactation Counseling Tampa, FL *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html