Hi, All: Why on earth wouldn't a hospital pass along their cost of formula right to the patient, as is done with the cost of every other product used by the patient? Many years ago I was involved in a project to determine what "supplies" for both a mother and baby were necessary in the hospital and what of these supplies the mother could bring into the hospital with her on admission in order to reduce the cost of her stay. We put together a list of necessities that was handed out in the pre-admission packets and in the prenatal classes. Some of our population is either uninsured or underinsured and planning on paying cash for their hospital stay. They really appreciate being able to save on things like Chux pads, sanitary pads, plastic peri bottles, diapers for the baby (cost to parents? $18 for 9 Pampers), baby shampoo, the little comb/brush set, the plastic basin used for the bath (empty clean Cool Whip containers work just fine)...This situation does not occur so much in the hospital I'm at now, but this is a very viable option that parents are not told about because it's all about money. So...why can't formula for a bottle-fed baby be added to the list of chargeable items? Now the hospitals don't have a leg to stand on when they complain about paying for formula that has been "free". I have spent almost all of my 25 years in lactation working in the hospital setting and yes, it is VERY frustrating EVERY day, but working with moms and their babies makes it all worthwhile at the end of the day. Our perinatal education co-ordinator (love ya, Joan!) covers for me on occasion and really got dumped on the last time she worked for me. The drs. offices sent over 3 outpatients and she had a high inpatient census to deal with. She said she was really frustrated and frazzled by the end of the day. After I pleaded with her not to quit on me, she said: "Oh no, I would never do that! I just LOVE working with the moms. It's so rewarding! But, I couldn't keep that pace every day, like you do." I guess I needed to be reminded why I come to work every day. Another plus to being a hospital- based LC is the steady paycheck and the benefits, which are especially useful if you're the primary or the sole breadwinner for your family. Gives me an opportunity to make a living at something I love to do. Pam Hirsch, RN,BSN,CLC Clinical Lead, Lactation Services Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Barrington, IL USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html