I wrote:
>>The real cost is in giving up
>>all the other money the formula companies "give" the hospital in return for
>>handing out their formula, which may run into the millions of dollars...

And then Pat wrote:
>And isn't it amazing that the formula companies will do this for the
>hospitals even though studies have "shown" that giving moms this  formula
>to take home has NO impact on the outcome of breastfeeding? It looks like
>very poor business practice, doesn't it?

Not to take the formula company's side in this (or anything), but they will
claim "If Ross doesn't give $10,000,000 to the hospital for an exclusive
agreement to give out Ross formula -- and thereby snag long-term
bottle-feeding customers for Ross, then Mead-Johnson will get the same
exclusive contract for only $9,000,000 and they will get more market share
for MJ formulas."  It's actually a very good business practice, because
their research has shown that moms tend to stick to the formula they started
out with in the hospital.  Brand loyalty and all that, plus the cachet of
being sanctioned by the hospital, therefore it must be the best formula.

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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email: [log in to unmask]
Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352
http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/dettwyler.html