Hi gang!   I don't know about other areas, but the problem at our   
hospital is that the MOTHERS are insisting on getting them!  Sometimes   
they've heard via the grapevine, or they got a "coupon" in the mail from   
the formula company telling them to "ask for this at your hospital when   
you are admitted".  At any rate, they just want all the free stuff they   
can get their hands on, even if they know it isn't what they need.  It's   
good old fashioned "gimmie-gimmie"  materialism.
 We are working at going baby friendly, and this is our last stumbling   
block.
When we suggested just getting rid of all gift packs, both the postpartum   
head nurses and the administration went balistic.  They claim it is a big   
marketing ploy, and the more goodies we give away, the more business   
we'll get.
   So, now we are trying to come up with an alternative, not from a   
formula company.  I've been in touch with a local company who is   
developing a baby friendly gift pack for breastfeeding moms. The   
drawback, of course is that there will be a price, not free.  I'm trying   
frantically to figure out where to get this money from when the time   
comes. (if anyone else is interested in the company putting this pack   
together, please E-mail me privately, as I don't want to advertize for   
them on LACTNET).
 By the way, the idea of  taking the advertizing out of the gift packs   
from the formula companies no longer works: they caught on and have   
started actually printing their ads on the items themselves (bag, cup,   
etc.) so that they can't
be removed.
     Kathy in Washington D.C.