Hi again
I must have too much time on my hands today!!
You may remember the recent piece of  'research' that suggested that
the use of discharge packs containing formula had no effect on
breastfeeding rates, or if anything, increased them.
Dungy CI, Losch ME, Russell D, Romitti P, Dusdieker LB. Hospital
                  infant discharge packages: do they affect the
                  duration of breast-feeding. Arch Pediatr Adolesc
                  Med. 1997;151:724-729.

In the January 1998 edition of the same journal, there is an
editorial from a MD who questions the findings, and is critical of
the practice of providing these packs.
In part he says...........
It seems as if the authors give an inordinate amount of accountability
to the contents of hospital discharge packages. Such    packages are,
as the authors briefly mention,  symbolic. More
crucial to breast-feeding success is  the support
provided to the mother by her family, her physician,
and her community. Did the women who  received these
packages have any difficulty with  breast-feeding?
And did they receive appropriate  emotional support?......

........
Finally, if the inclusion of infant formula in hospital discharge
packages does
                  not decrease the duration of breast-feeding, then
                  why do formula companies struggle so hard to
                  continue this practice? If providing formula samples
                  at discharge does actually increase breast-feeding
                  duration, as the results of this study seem to
                  suggest, perhaps the formula makers will eventually
                  relinquish it on their own.

Nice to see another side to the argument.
The article is on their web page
http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/journals/most/recent/issues/ajdc/lett
er_7.htm


Fiona
Who really must put the washing out now!!

Fiona Coombes MBBS IBCLC               [log in to unmask]
Lactation Consultant, Family Physician
Perth Western Australia