"they already have ABM at home since the companies are now sending cases straight to the parents homes. Any comments?"

My comment is twofold, and intended primarily for our US LactNetters, with congratulations to those in the many other countries which do not permit this kind of thing.

1) Cases of formula sent to homes violate the mother's right to privacy about a medical condition.  With what medical system compliance (including coupons in those free magazines that clinics hand out) are the companies learning the mother's name, address, pregnancy status and due date?  Does that same system sell drug companies the names of men who might have impotence problems due to drugs or surgery?  If not, might there be a serious gender discrepancy in protecting confidentiality that we need to address? 

2) The second comment is that in any case, free samples/supplies violate the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes which was written with formula company participation to apply to every country in the world.  Until we take steps to ensure that every company abides by it in practice throughout the USA, we shall continue to be swimming upstream against a powerful current.  

The Surgeon General's Blueprint was a jumping off point (by acknowledging the Code), and the report of our National Breastfeeding Committee takes us several steps further under Stategy 3 of Goal 2.  We can quote these sources as we work for full implementation of Codes to protect mothers from commercial pressures, perhaps taking the NABA training in Code monitoring or at least learning from the excellent NABA report on Code violations in the US. (Selling Out Mothers and Babies, available from [log in to unmask])  

We can envisage a day when every woman who decides to use infant formula, feeding bottles or pacifiers does so without advertising, sampling, insufficient or misleading information, or care from health institutions that are receiving secret inputs from the formula companies.  (You object to the word secret? Try asking to see the whole of the current contracts between your hospital and its formula suppliers.)  But we do have to speak up. If not us, whom?  If not now, when? 

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