Why Infant Formula Samples Should Be Banned from Hospitals

It was with much interest that I read today of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg eliminating free formula samples from 11 public hospitals in New York City. He has also recently begun a multi-million dollar campaign so that city-run hospitals will have more funding and will be able to better promote breastfeeding. This is surely wonderful news, isn't it? Not according to some, including Jennifer Zajfe, a contributing op-ed writer for The New York Times.

Jennifer seems to feel that a move of this nature will no longer make hospitals "mom-friendly." Her arguments center mainly around the fact that she recently gave birth by cesarean section and was unable to breastfeed due to delayed milk production. Jennifer cites her belief that some New York City hospitals have cesarean section rates as high as 40%, and because of this hospitals and mothers must be in dire need of free formula .

Other arguments that Jennifer Zajfe brings up in her op-ed piece on why she is in favor of free formula samples in hospitals are that some of her friends have been sexually abused and just aren't comfortable enough with their bodies to breastfeed. She then goes on to write that many women must return to work immediately after birth and that it is categorically impossible for them to pump and store their breast milk.

Her final argument is a particularly specious one. She argues that formula is expensive, and that many single and low-income mothers that give birth might not be able to afford it and certainly deserve to be able to feed their children.

Jennifer ends her article by writing that neither governments nor medical institutions should try to manipulate a woman's decision by withholding free formula that the formula manufacturers have been kind enough to provide.