Hospital bans free formula. What do you think?

[summer rain]

I really just don't see your problem....? I do have some friends who chose to FF for whatever reason; from birth and they have no issue whatsoever with this type of policy nor providing their own milk.

But you wouldn't see my problem would you? You have a 9 month bf badge in your sig!

Also those friends that have chosen to FF. Have chosen to do it that way, so they wouldn't feel bad. I'm just speaking from the point of view of someone that chose to BF, wasn't able to, expressed for a short time but had to resort to Formula. My LO is really healthy but the constant negativities surrounding formula milk is really hurtful to someone in my situation. As if what happend wasn't upsetting enough in the first place.

Erm yes and below that I clearly say I have both BF and FF, and yes I had to switch to FF for medical reasons; I have four boys two of whom I had serious problems BF which I won't go into, don't assume you know the situation of those who may disagree with your POV I was saying 'friends who chose to FF' because they are the people who this new policy is aimed at, not those who need to start FF for medical reasons for whom formula will be provided without question-so you'd think if anyone was offended and felt put upon it would be those whom this policy would actually effect....that was my point. Sometimes I really feel between a rock and a hard place; I get assumed to be a militant BFer with no problems ever BF and who has never had to FF in my life, in both this section, and the FF section, sheesh! Maybe I should make a flashing blinkie with the blue bit at the bottom, just so its a bit more clear.

 

[summer rain]

In a way I don't see that being told to bring your own formula in is any different to being told to bring your own nappies.

But then again "mummy" will get fed 3 meals a day by the hospital so why shouldn't baby get fed? Afterall the hospital is feeding the mum to make the breastmilk!

As usual it is all a lot of media hype!

not all hospitals will provide 3 meals a day, at least not ones that are nutritionally adequate for a new mum. When I was in with my eldest half the time the other wards got all the meals and the post-natal ward got jack, furthermore breakfast was served in a communal room, if you were too ill/exhausted to go in there, it was tough. If it wasn't for my OH bringing in decent food I would have been in a seriously bad way by the time I had to go home xx

 

[goddess25]

I agree with it in relation to encouraging mums to Bf but it also makes me feel that a lot of mums who choose to FF are going to feel that there decision is wrong. It feels like its taking away the mothers right to choose.

Prior to my son being born I wanted to FF, although I was going to try BF but didnt think it was for me so I didnt buy supplies because I thought ok I will give it a go after baby is born and see if its as horrible as I thought. A lot of ladies dont make the decision till after baby is born so both feeding methods should be available to all new mums with support.

 

[Thumper]

Wow, I sign back in and 5 pages of comments!
I like the point that 'breast is best' is too pushy, 'breast is normal' is far more appealing even though I hate that word 'normal'.
Summer Rain you pretty much summed it all up for me

 

[Ozzieshunni]

How's about the midwives encourage breastfeeding, but don't make women feel like complete and utter failures if they can't? Or if a woman struggles to breastfeed, not tell her to top up with formula and instead give her real support? That would be the best course of action imo.

 

[summer rain]

How's about the midwives encourage breastfeeding, but don't make women feel like complete and utter failures if they can't? Or if a woman struggles to breastfeed, not tell her to top up with formula and instead give her real support? That would be the best course of action imo.

I can't speak for every hospital but the hospital that this article is about; this is the case already xx

 

[J_ellybean]

In the hosp where I gave birth, they didn't provide formula either - I bf for the first 3 months so it didn't affect me but I really got so angry about the lack of privacy for a first time bf'er - I was in a shared ward and the staff kept opening the curtains around my bed! Having had a C-Section I couldn't just jump up and close them again so just had to get my boobs out on the ward in front of everyone (and their husbands/boyfriends!!) made me so mad! The other 3 ladies on our ward were all FF and the nurses wouldn't let them use their scissors to open the cartons either. Grr.

 

[austinsmom]

It doesn't bother me if a hospital provides formula (as in having it there just in case)...

I'm more opposed to the 'free samples' and care packages that the hospital sends every patient home with.
It even comes with a free 'Similiac Backpack', formula coupons, a how to guide for feeding your newborn forumla, a tin of formula, a 4-pack of already made formula, and one tiny little package of nipple cream that on the back says in fine print, breastfeeding is best. It just screams FORMULA FORUMLA FORMULA (even says so on the backpack).

 

[summer rain]

It doesn't bother me if a hospital provides formula (as in having it there just in case)...

I'm more opposed to the 'free samples' and care packages that the hospital sends every patient home with.
It even comes with a free 'Similiac Backpack', formula coupons, a how to guide for feeding your newborn forumla, a tin of formula, a 4-pack of already made formula, and one tiny little package of nipple cream that on the back says in fine print, breastfeeding is best. It just screams FORMULA FORUMLA FORMULA (even says so on the backpack).

Thankfully its illegal for the hospitals to give stuff like that out here; but theres a loophole; formula companies can do mum and baby clubs and when you sign up to them they are allowed to send you formula samples-they also do 'clubs' for health care professionals and offer financial incentives for those who promote their products by the back door

 

[Elmo5]

... but I don't think the 'breast is best' argument is fair.

You might not think it is fair, but it is a "true and accurate" statement.

I bf for the first 3 months so it didn't affect me but I really got so angry about the lack of privacy for a first time bf'er - I was in a shared ward and the staff kept opening the curtains around my bed!

I had the opposite problem they kept closing them on me as if I was doing something wrong. To me it is natural and I had no reason to hide behind a curtain so it kept annoying me.

 

[austinsmom]

It doesn't bother me if a hospital provides formula (as in having it there just in case)...

I'm more opposed to the 'free samples' and care packages that the hospital sends every patient home with.
It even comes with a free 'Similiac Backpack', formula coupons, a how to guide for feeding your newborn forumla, a tin of formula, a 4-pack of already made formula, and one tiny little package of nipple cream that on the back says in fine print, breastfeeding is best. It just screams FORMULA FORUMLA FORMULA (even says so on the backpack).

Thankfully its illegal for the hospitals to give stuff like that out here; but theres a loophole; formula companies can do mum and baby clubs and when you sign up to them they are allowed to send you formula samples-they also do 'clubs' for health care professionals and offer financial incentives for those who promote their products by the back door

After having both my children (west and east coast in the US), I was given tons of free samples.
At my first prenatal visit with this LO, they gave out the formula package. Cleverly disguised as your 'pregnancy journal' with Similiac plastered all over the front of everything (and of course included a small tin of formula). And what's sad, is it was a military hospital. Same thing with my son too... had him at one of the best hospitals in california, and sure enough, had a closet full of formula by the end of my pregnancy. And unfortunatly, it made it all too easy to switch to forumla with him

 

[moomin_troll]

i think its a good idea.
newborns dont need much so other then not being able to bf i dont see why women dont atleast try.

i tried to bf my first for 5 days, it didnt work so i switched. so im not at all against ff as ive done both

 

[Boony]

I FF my sons (although i did try BF) and I'm BF my 2 week old daughter so have done both. I think this is a good idea.

If a mother is planning on FF then I dont see why the hospital should pay for it? Its not going to cost much more for a mum to take a few bottles of milk in but this could save the NHS alot of money!

 

[Foogirl]

I think it is a good idea but they must also offer better support for BFing mothers. I believe the reason so many mums in hospital turn to formula is because they find BFing difficult and get little help.

Also, it might stop midwives and nurses immediately brandishing a bottle of formula when newborns don't follow their magic number weight chart.

 

[summer rain]

I loved the comment on the article that this move will 'force' financially worse off mums into BF because it will cost too much for them to take formula in hospital, err ok then how are you going to pay for the formula for the rest of your baby's first 12 months? A good few years ago someone figured out this would cost £500 a year, I've done a quick calculation and it would be more like £700 a year now, if not more. Even those who get the healthy start vouchers; this would nowhere near cover the £10-£15 a week average cost of formula for a baby of a few months old. xx

 

[summer rain]

I think it is a good idea but they must also offer better support for BFing mothers. I believe the reason so many mums in hospital turn to formula is because they find BFing difficult and get little help.

Also, it might stop midwives and nurses immediately brandishing a bottle of formula when newborns don't follow their magic number weight chart.

could not agree more with both points. Proper BF training for midwives (who contrary to popular belief, often don't have any BF training) would be a good start as well.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

It doesn't bother me if a hospital provides formula (as in having it there just in case)...

I'm more opposed to the 'free samples' and care packages that the hospital sends every patient home with.
It even comes with a free 'Similiac Backpack', formula coupons, a how to guide for feeding your newborn forumla, a tin of formula, a 4-pack of already made formula, and one tiny little package of nipple cream that on the back says in fine print, breastfeeding is best. It just screams FORMULA FORUMLA FORMULA (even says so on the backpack).

Thankfully its illegal for the hospitals to give stuff like that out here; but theres a loophole; formula companies can do mum and baby clubs and when you sign up to them they are allowed to send you formula samples-they also do 'clubs' for health care professionals and offer financial incentives for those who promote their products by the back door

After having both my children (west and east coast in the US), I was given tons of free samples.
At my first prenatal visit with this LO, they gave out the formula package. Cleverly disguised as your 'pregnancy journal' with Similiac plastered all over the front of everything (and of course included a small tin of formula). And what's sad, is it was a military hospital. Same thing with my son too... had him at one of the best hospitals in california, and sure enough, had a closet full of formula by the end of my pregnancy. And unfortunatly, it made it all too easy to switch to forumla with him

I'm the type of cheeky git who would hand them back and say "No thank you. No fake milk for my baby."

 

[moomin_troll]

I think it is a good idea but they must also offer better support for BFing mothers. I believe the reason so many mums in hospital turn to formula is because they find BFing difficult and get little help.

Also, it might stop midwives and nurses immediately brandishing a bottle of formula when newborns don't follow their magic number weight chart.

i agree! i got no support at all while trying to feed my first. i was clueless and got no help even when i asked.

this time i was lucky to have 1 mw who helped

 

[Thumper]

I had no idea hospitals gave away samples I had a home birth and was very lucky that BFing came fairly easy to me, and the MWs were awesome. My HV is amazing too so I guess I should be grateful!
I think it's awful that formula companies should be allowed to give away samples. It's moving into Nestle territory.

 

[summer rain]

I had no idea hospitals gave away samples I had a home birth and was very lucky that BFing came fairly easy to me, and the MWs were awesome. My HV is amazing too so I guess I should be grateful!
I think it's awful that formula companies should be allowed to give away samples. It's moving into Nestle territory.

hospitals in the UK don't give away free samples; its in the US and Canada(?) however here they are allowed give a few extra pre-made bottles sometimes to mums who have chosen to FF, or even mums who are undecided or have given one formula top up in the hospital for whatever reason. Their disclaimer is it isn't promotion just helping out a mum who would 'probably' continue to FF anyway. Also in some hospitals they have to have medical reasons to push the formula onto a mum who is keen to BF; with my eldest this entailed them doing a blood sugar test on him as he was sleepy and telling me the level was dangerously low, being 7 years ago I didn't have google on hand to check this was correct-a later midwife came round and told me his level wasn't low at all and was on the upper side of average and even showed me the various different levels and what they mean on a piece of paper. In the UK though formula companies all have their mother and baby clubs and while their name is all over them; understandably most mums have no idea that it really is just a marketing ploy to push formula as opposed to a genuine support network for new mums-and this is a loophole under which they can send formula samples and money off vouchers. While on most of the sign up sites it says you need to tick a box for them to send info on first infant formulas (and this also includes samples and vouchers), it doesn't say this AFAIK in some of the leaflets and little cards stuck to the relevant advert in magazines for these. Besides this I know several mums who joined these clubs, specifically didn't sign up for the info on infant formula and still got sent stuff! xx