Many clinics, such as the one I had prenatal care at, give their patient
lists to the ABM companies. it is very possible that at your first prenatal,
you were registered with the mailing lists. Motherhood Maternity deals
directly with Ross (Similac) but may sell their lists to outside agencies
that then sell to the other companies. the supermarket near me (Shaws) has a
"ducklings" club that ties in with their discount cards; it sends info books
and formula coupons.

I played with this a bit before my daughter was born. I filled out numerous
info cards, with drastically differing due dates (like, 6 months off). I
changed my middle initial to suit the company - I used "N" for Carnation, R
for Ross and M for Enfamil. I got the expected formulas sent about 2 weeks
before my fake due dates, and coupons about 2 weeks after my fake due dates.
the format of the samples also varied. when I lived in Amherst I got
powdered cans; when I lived in a wealthier area I got RTF and powder in the
single serving packettes with a playtex disposible liners sampler. in all, I
got 5 packages of formula samples including 2 FULL SIZE cans, several small
RTF's and pacifiers. the last shipment I got came 2 weeks after my real
baby's real due date - it was immediately after the DHA formulas began and
was Lipil (a small RTF and a small powder can) with quite a bit of
literature repudiating the cans I had received only a couple months before!
one thing they all had in common was detailed info (with "graphs", and other
pseudo-scientific imagery) on how to wean onto formula.

in a little while I might try this experiment again with a "fake pregnancy"
and see if anything has changed. I made the mistake the first time of not
making a note as to whether I specified on the info card "I plan to
breastfeed; or I plan to FF, or I am unsure" I am curious to see whether
that makes a difference. I think I always checked "I plan to breastfeed".

Michelle L. DePesa
that is my real middle initial!

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