As we all know, the cost of formula is very expensive. In some countries it can cost more than a wage earner brings home for the whole family - a major reason why it is (often) over-diluted with (often) dirty water.

The cost has to cover the huge amount of money given to hospitals in exchange for exclusive contracts to provide enough"free" formula to feed every baby in hospital (even if a % are breastfeeding), the "free" formula gift packs and bags, the "free" educational programs to "educate" the health professionals, the community, the mothers, (Baby Fairs etc), the "free"samples, the "free" coupons, the "free" wine and dine, the huge sums of money "donated" to institutions, the huge sums of money thrown around to buy good will, advertising costs, legal costs etc. etc. (I really could go on and on but you get the idea!)

Nothing is "free". The mother who chooses to, or must use formula, pays for all the above. The actual cost is very little. 

 My numbers are not up to-date (and I would need to go through many boxes to find the information so don't quote me),  but about 18 years ago, one 4 ounce bottle of ready to serve (given for "free" for hospital use) cost about 25 cents.

At the same time, I convinced Children & Women's Hospital, (C & W), the largest maternity in Canada, to pay for the formula they needed. The hospital had been offered enough "free" formula to feed every baby (despite the fact 80% were breastfeeding) plus 3 million dollars. The hospital also said they "supported breastfeeding".

In the following years the amount of money offered for contracts increased dramatically.  The last hospital, the Royal Columbian, that I helped convince to pay for their formula, was about 15 years ago.  This hospital had 1/2 the number of deliveries but was offered 5 million dollars, which was turned down when we were given the opportunity to present to the BOD and the information was exposed to the media.  How much are the companies offering for an exclusive contract today?  How much do the companies offer WIC?

Back to C & W's.  When I started corresponding with the CEO, I was told that 10 of my colleagues would lose their jobs if the hospital had to pay for the formula. (Of course they wanted the 3 million but I concentrated on the cost of buying the formula and tackled the 3 million under the heading  of ethics). 

 I did the math (and math is NOT my forte) to buy the formula they needed. Number of deliveries per year x the number of bottles while in hospital x the cost of formula . I was very liberal with my numbers and allowed for wastage.  This gave the cost to feed ALL the babies in the hospital but 80% were breastfeeding. I then worked out the cost of formula for the approximately 20% of babies who were not breastfeeding and added an amount to cover the % of breastfeeding babies who might need to be supplemented for medical reasons. The cost to purchase the formula was very low. The CEO (whose salary was substantially higher than mine as a lowly nurse) was very embarrassed when the numbers ended up on the front page of the Vancouver Sun. 

I will get the actual cost to produce formula and post ASAP.

Renee (in Vancouver, Canada)

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