When our hospital recently became Baby-Friendly, getting rid of  free formula
was the biggest barrier we had to overcome.
One thing I would check into before throwing up hands in despair is the
ACTUAL cost of formula and formula products to the hospital. Where did that
$18,000 figure come from? Before we looked into the issue, the official story
was that our 1600 births per year hospital was using $70,000 of free formula
and formula company products. When we surveyed the real amounts used, by
counting bottles on the individual units (as opposed to relying on the free
products listed by the formula company) we came out with an estimate of
closer to $20,000. It was still a long process to get the formula paid for,
but hospital administrators were far more willing to negotiate around $20,000
that they were around $70,000...
Anne Merewood IBCLC
Director of Lactation Services
Boston Medical Center

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