Concerning the "freebies" given away by the formula companies.  I like Arly
Helm's letter, and suggest she might add that mothers who are breastfeeding
their babies can donate their free samples to . . . and then list whatever
local social services exist for children in the community.  For example, in
Bryan, Texas, we have a house called "Phoebe's Home" which is for
abused/battered women and their children.  Our church, the Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship, collects from all its members the little bottles of
shampoo/creme rinse/hand creme that we all gather from nice hotels when we
go on business trips.  Since many of the members of our church/community are
Texas A&M faculty, we travel a LOT, and bring these little bottles back to
donate to Phoebe's Home.  Many of the women who end up at Phoebe's Home have
young children, and since many of those with infants are bottle-feeding, I'm
sure they would appreciate having these free samples on hand for the moms to
use in crisis situations.  Just a thought.  There is also a place for
children who have been taken from abusive home situations, before they are
put in foster care, and they have just started an additional service that
provides "crisis respite" care for children whose families are having a
crisis of some kind.  They will keep children up to 48 hours, I think, and
have put out requests for diapers and formula from whatever sources have
them to donate.  One would hope that every community has someplace like
these that could use free formula samples, and perhaps if women had
someplace to donate those free samples, they would be inclined to do so, and
we could turn the formula companies into philanthropists instead of
profit-seekers.  Maybe the hospital would even allow women to drop off their
free samples in a box marked for the local service ("Phoebe's Home" or
whatever) on their way out of the maternity ward.  That way you can tell the
formula companies that you are, indeed, giving out their free samples to new
mothers!


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Katherine A. Dettwyler                                email:
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Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352