Carolyn has mentioned the problems in her hospital regarding efforts to remove formula company discharge bags. One of the first ways to help get rid of these bags is to visit the Ban the Bags website at www.banthebags.org. There are many pages of useful, practical suggestions for eliminating these bags. The statement regarding mothers going to other hospitals because a?bag free?hospital would be viewed as less generous has no evidence to support it. The 224?hospitals that have gone bag free have had few complaints from any mothers. It is usually the nurses who have difficulty weaning from the freebies. In looking for funds to secure gift bags for all mothers, not just breastfeeding moms, check with your Marketing Department to see if they would fund bags with the hospital's logo and ad for delivering babies at that institution. Why perform free marketing for formula companies when the hospital can market its own services. There are many Ban the Bag products that can also help?make your message more visible which are available from http://www.cafepress.com/banthebags

Distributing these bags?is a practice that?flirts with violating the federal anti-kickback statute in the US. If a hospital looks like it is violating this statute, you can report it to the Department of Health and Human Services Fraud and Abuse Hotline (800 447-8477). You may wish to bring this to the attention of your Corporate Compliance Department as well as the hospital attorney. Many hospitals have told us that they eliminated the bags when the Risk Management Department was advised that the bags often contain powdered infant formula, a product that is not sterile and requires special preparation instructions that are not found on the can. Since hospitals have no stock control procedures regarding the bags, they do not write down the identifying number on the bag and the name and contact information for the mother who received it, they cannot inform her if there is a recall of the product as happened recently http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/abbott09_06.html. Babies have been sickened from the non-sterile formula in these bags:
http://www.wave3.com/global/story.asp?s=2531323&ClientType=Printable

What a nice holiday present for new mothers if their hospital stopped peddling pricey products to them that can sicken their baby. Let's not let?ONE person in an institution put the health of little babies at risk. There is so much more we can do to eliminate these pesky bags. 

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA



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