Greetings!
 I have a niece(young, single mom) who had a baby in early Dec. BW 5-15; at
3 weeks was 7 lbs! Doing great. One night the baby had a "bad night", fed
all night. Mom tried to pump(with a bad pump) and could get
nothing---thought her milk had "dried up". Guess what she had in a pack
received from the hospital??? You guessed it. A can of formula. She gave
the baby formula, decided she had no more milk and stopped breastfeeding. I
did not hear about it until a week later---I encouraged her to put the baby
back on breast,etc. etc. But, yetch!!!!
 My question is: Why do we feel we must give something, a gift to a new
mom????Do we feel guilty for not being able to spend enough time helping
her in the hospital?
Who is the gift for--us or for the client?? Do we want to feel good? Isn't
the best thing we can do for a mother and baby no matter what her economic
level is to help her succeed at breastfeeding. Success at
breastfeeding=increased self esteem. Do we harm self esteem when we give
people things?
Why do professionals allow themselves to be used as an avenue for
advertising products of any kind?
Sorry, but I am sad about my niece and her baby!