Mary B wrote of her concern with her hospital's acceptance of free formula
and the subsequent expectation by the formula company that the hospital would
give their patients the formula-containing discharge pack. Many hospitals
have a contract with the formula company in which the hospital is given large
sums of cash in return for marketing formula.

First of all, the hospital can easily "pay" for formula since it becomes a
charge item and is included in the room and board charge for the baby, just
like the chicken and mashed potatoes are paid for by the hospital and charged
to the patient's room. There is no such thing as not being able to afford to
buy formula. What happens if they purchase fomula is that the hospital loses
the cash and the other gifts and services that the formula companies use to
bribe the hospital to do its marketing.

We do not need to show that formula packs are detrimental to breastfeeding.
We need to ask about the ethics of this practice. Your state health
department should be contacted and asked to investigate how much patient care
is being influenced by formula manufacturers. Women do not need these gifts.
There are many hospitals whose auxillaries make slings as a discharge gift
and have refused to be a marketing conduit for a food that has never been
shown to be good for babies.