Women Likely To Receive No-Cost Formula Samples When Leaving Hospital After Birth, Report Finds

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 08 Sep 2008 - 6:00 PST

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Despite opposition from numerous health organizations to giving new mothers no-cost formula samples, most women after giving birth in the U.S. leave the hospital with such samples, as well as discount coupons to buy formula, according to a report published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Reuters reports. Reuters reports that although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of an infant's life, it is estimated that only 11% of infants in the country are exclusively breastfed for that amount of time. Formula samples have been shown to make women less likely to breastfeed.

In the report, Anne Merewood of Boston University's School of Medicine and colleagues write that the prevalence of sample formula distribution is "disturbing and incongruous given extensive opposition, but encouraging trends suggest that the practice may be curtailed in the future."

Researchers surveyed 1,295 hospitals in 21 eastern states and Washington, D.C., about their no-cost formula policies from October 2006 to March 2007. The report found that about 94% of hospitals acknowledged distributing formula sample packs. However, the number of hospitals doing away with the practice is increasing, particularly between 1979 and 2006, according to the report. Among 80 hospitals that did not hand out formula samples, 20 eliminated the practice prior to 2006, while 60 had done so after 2000 (Reuters, 9/3).

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