Concerning the "freebies" given away by the formula companies. I like Arly Helm's letter, and suggest she might add that mothers who are breastfeeding their babies can donate their free samples to . . . and then list whatever local social services exist for children in the community. For example, in Bryan, Texas, we have a house called "Phoebe's Home" which is for abused/battered women and their children. Our church, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, collects from all its members the little bottles of shampoo/creme rinse/hand creme that we all gather from nice hotels when we go on business trips. Since many of the members of our church/community are Texas A&M faculty, we travel a LOT, and bring these little bottles back to donate to Phoebe's Home. Many of the women who end up at Phoebe's Home have young children, and since many of those with infants are bottle-feeding, I'm sure they would appreciate having these free samples on hand for the moms to use in crisis situations. Just a thought. There is also a place for children who have been taken from abusive home situations, before they are put in foster care, and they have just started an additional service that provides "crisis respite" care for children whose families are having a crisis of some kind. They will keep children up to 48 hours, I think, and have put out requests for diapers and formula from whatever sources have them to donate. One would hope that every community has someplace like these that could use free formula samples, and perhaps if women had someplace to donate those free samples, they would be inclined to do so, and we could turn the formula companies into philanthropists instead of profit-seekers. Maybe the hospital would even allow women to drop off their free samples in a box marked for the local service ("Phoebe's Home" or whatever) on their way out of the maternity ward. That way you can tell the formula companies that you are, indeed, giving out their free samples to new mothers! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Katherine A. Dettwyler email: [log in to unmask] Anthropology Department phone: (409) 845-5256 Texas A&M University fax: (409) 845-4070 College Station, TX 77843-4352