anyone going baby friendly??

Why does breastfeeding friendly have to be so family/baby unfriendly? That smacks of dogmatism.

Although the magnitude of this death and disease is far greater in the developing world, thousands of infants in the United States suffer the ill effects of an infant formula-feeding culture. A decreased risk of diarrhea, respiratory and ear infections, and allergic skin disorders are among the many benefits of breastfeeding to infants in the industrialized world.

In the United States, these benefits could translate into millions of dollars of savings to our health care system through decreased hospitalizations and pediatric clinic visits.

The campaign grew out of efforts in Massachusetts to stop aggressive formula company marketing tactics in hospitals. Multiple studies have shown that formula sales campaigns undermine mothers who choose to breastfeed, and coopt medical professionals to promote expensive brand-name formula.

The findings indicate substantial prevalences of maternity practices that are not evidence-based and are known to interfere with breastfeeding. For example, 24% of birth facilities reported supplementing more than half of healthy, full-term, breastfed newborns with something other than breast milk during the postpartum stay, a practice shown to be unnecessary and detrimental to breastfeeding (7,10). In addition, 70% of facilities reported giving breastfeeding mothers gift bags containing infant formula samples. Facilities should consider discontinuing these practices to provide more positive influences on both breastfeeding initiation and duration (5,6,8).

As you can see from my other posts in this thread I am VERY pro breastfeeding. I bf my son until he was 3. I am one of those nuts you see at lactation feed-ins. So please I do not need quotes and articles explaining how great bf is. I know!

What? I'd have smacked a nurse if they tried to "supplement" formula to my breastfed newborn because she was "hungry." Seriously, I would have smacked her.

I was attempting to share why the BFHI is what it is. I was responding to a variety of questions surrounding BFHI, so I really shouldn't have quoted your post. I apologize for making it appear that I was attempting to single you out as that wasn't my intent. Your post summed up the concerns others had shared very well, which is why I quoted it.

How is not providing a free diaper bag with formula samples causing mothers who choose to, or need to, feed formula feel unsupported? How is not providing formula samples unsupportive of a woman's informed choice?

Why do mothers expect a free diaper bag (yes, I expected one myself!)? Is it ingrained in our society that new mothers should expect to go home with bags of swag? Do other hospital patients expect to go home with similar bags? Would other pharmaceutical companies even be allowed to mass market to patients that way?

What about the issue of brand recognition? Studies have shown that mothers tend to stick to whatever brand/type of formula they received in the hospital, which is why formula companies want to market to mothers before they leave the hospital. Oftentimes, the freebie is the most expensive of the manufacturer's line and families end up spending more money on their baby's nutritional needs than is necessary. Not to mention that formula is regulated and store brands contain the same levels of nutrients at a much lower cost. Name brand formula costs so much more partially because of the "freebies" that manufacturers give to mothers through hospitals, clinics, and postal mail.

What about the issue of health? Would hospitals hand out any other product that does not promote optimal health?

What about product contamination and liability? One serious example is that powdered formula has been contaminated with E. sakazakii, a bacteria that can cause fatal infections.

On the other hand, what do you do in the nursery with a breastfed baby whose mother refuses to breastfeed him or her because she wants to sleep, and doesn't want the baby to get any bottles. As an advocate for the baby, who doesn't have a voice, should I just let that baby cry? That definitely is not baby friendly. This happens rather frequently. Or a baby will go out to nurse, and come back in ten or fifteen minutes screaming. Then parents get upset if the baby is brought back out. I suppose the alternative would be to say that breastfed babies must room in, but that would upset many parents too.

This is the biggest conundrum I find with the whole baby-friendly thing. If you want to breastfeed your baby, breastfeed him. If you are too tired to do it, and your baby is hungry, it is wrong for me to let him starve.