I have been following the discussion on this study (Dungy CI. Hospital
infant formula discharge packages. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med
1997;151:724-729) and have finally managed to read the article. I was
intrigued to see the editor's note re the under represented group of lower
socioeconomic status and less education who would be considered a very
vulnerable group. In this study there were only 2% (n=17) who had not gone
beyond grade school and 9% (n= 61) whose family income was less than
$10,000. The conclusion they draw is that inclusion of infant formula in
hospital discharge packages does not decrease the duration of breastfeeding
(which was only measured for 16 weeks!). My concern is that these results
need to be kept in the context in which they were collected and not be
compared with other studies which show different results because they have
been conducted on different populations with a different background setting
eg what breastfeeding support was available for the subjects at the time.

Ellen McIntyre IBCLC
South Australia