banthebags.org

Marsha Walker exposes formula company tactics in her article, Formula Company Discharge Bags: The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing:

Sampling gets the product into the hands of the consumer, provides for its easy use at the first sign of breastfeeding roadblocks, and starts the process of early weaning - the perfect setup for creating a market where none existed before.

In 2007, Portland, Oregon became the first “Bag Free” city in the US, when all 15 maternity hospitals stopped marketing formula to new mothers. The Oregon Community Health Partnership, the Nursing Mothers’ Counsel of Oregon and the Breastfeeding Coalition of Oregon joined forces to present awards to “Bag Free” hospitals and draw attention to the negative consequences of formula marketing. They summarized their success in an award-winning poster for the Oregon Public Health Association.

Hospitals provide formula sample packs while medical organizations encourage breastfeeding

CHICAGO—A majority of U.S. hospitals on the East coast distribute formula sample packs to new mothers, contrary to recommendations from most major medical organizations concerned about the potential for distributing these packs to reduce breastfeeding rates, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, the practice is changing significantly.

Read more »

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released results from a national survey of US maternity centers showing that 70 percent of birth facilities continue to market formula to new mothers, undermining health recommendations. In an editorial note accompanying the study, published in the journal “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,” the authors comment:

Facilities should consider discontinuing these practices to provide more positive influences on breastfeeding initiation and duration.

For more information on mPINC, read the press release from the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition.

A recent article in The New York Times reported on rising US breastfeeding rates. In the article, Bobby Philipp, a pediatrician at Boston University, pointed to formula bags as a key obstacle to breastfeeding success. Noting that most hospitals still market formula to new mothers, she said:

That’s a problem because at least five studies have shown that when a doctor or nurse hands the family that bag, even if they take the formula out, that mother will have less success with breast-feeding

Read the article

The March/April issue of Mothering Magazine features the Ban the Bags campaign. Part of the magazine’s “Speak truth to power” issue, Marsha Walker’s account of the struggle to move formula marketing out of hospitals is available online to digital subscribers, and on news stands everywhere.

Show your support for Ban the Bags with mugs, badges, t-shirts, and even a Ban the Bags Bag. Visit our online store. Proceeds support the Ban the Bags campaign.

Welcome to BanTheBags.org, home of the national campaign to stop hospital-based marketing of infant formula to new mothers.

By Alison Stuebe, MD

What’s in a bag?

For years, hospitals have distributed “gift” bags to new mothers, courtesy of the drug companies that sell baby formula. Over the years, bag styles have changed, from pastel bunnies to sleek briefcase black. What hasn’t changed is the strategy: big formula companies are using hospitals to promote their product to new mothers. Read more »