Hello lactnetters,
Our birth center received the Baby friendly designation last year, and
the gift pack issue was one of the hurdles we had to deal with along the
way.  We are a small, free-standing birth center, doing about  75-100
births a year.  Before Baby Friendly, we had been giving out gift packs
for years, because they were "free", because we assumed our clients
liked and needed them, etc. etc.....We tried to get "clean" (no formula
ads/samples/coupons) from the distributors, and found that this is not
possible. You may get a committment to no formula promotion, and one or
two clean shipments, but then things would go back to business as usual.

  So we discontinued giving gift packs at all, and found that our
clients don't seem to miss them.  My own philosophy is that even if the
packs contain no formula promotion materials, you are still sending the
message to your client that she cannot be a good mother without all
these PRODUCTS.  Has any baby ever really cared if his parents purchased
a brand X baby amuser and soother for him?  What babies want and need
most is the loving attention of their parents, something we do not see
advertised in any of the promos in gift packs.
  From the Soapbox of Martha Johnson RN IBCLC, in Eugene, Oregon, where
it is finally and gloriously Spring!