You may pass my comments along.
My hospital has one company's products for sale in the Gift Shop. It is
located on the 1st floor and our unit is on the 2nd floor. The other
RN,IBCLC and I fought to get some product at our hospital location (we
didn't much care where they chose to house it) so that we would not
constantly have to send new moms away to another site to purchase
supplies. We felt having products on site would offer a needed service
to clients. Of course, we cannot tell clients to purchase products there
and not disclose where else they are sold. We ask them what part of town
they live in and tell them what sites are close to them or are "on the
way home" as well as informing them that products are sold in the
hospital Gift Shop. The city of Jacksonville encompasses almost all of
Duval county and one retail product site may be as many as 30 miles away
from another.

As far as a cart being set up, big questions arise in my mind. Who will
decide which products are to be stocked, what the par levels should be
and who is responsible for restocking/inventory? Who will be advising
the new mom on which products and supplies she "needs"? The LC? The
volunteer? Who is responsible for the "sale" and "ringing it up"? The
volunteer? The RN? The LC? Whose budget does the sale go to? The OB
unit? The volunteer service? These are things that need to be decided up
front with such a plan or chaos is likely to follow. Personally, I think
the plan will only be a good one if the LC or knowledgeable RN are the
people who discuss products/rationale with Mom. Otherwise new parents
may "buy" all kinds of inappropriate things that are unlikely to help in
their particular situation.

Jean Macomber,RN,IBCLC

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