Comments on The Lactivist Breastfeeding Blog: New York Formula Freebies Ban Goes into Effect

I believe this is not right Yes breastfeeding is t...

2008-05-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

I believe this is not right Yes breastfeeding is the best but what if you have a mother who can not get the hang of it, and starves her baby ? So that is why the formula is given to show the mother if they have a problem NOT TO STARVE THE BABY !!!!

I guess I'm in the minority. I'm a formula feeding...

2008-04-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm in the minority. I'm a formula feeding mom who was VERY grateful for the freebies I received when I had my son in Dec 2004. I'm now pregnant with my second and didn't know that hospitals may not be giving these bags unless I ask for one. As a breast cancer survivor at the age of 34, I had bilateral mastectomies in 2003 - so breastfeeding is not an option for me. I envy you women who

We were also sent home from a Brooklyn hospital wi...

2007-09-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

We were also sent home from a Brooklyn hospital with some formula 'samples'. We were thankful for having them as first time parents and therefor first-time breast feeders.

We were intent on breastfeeding, but the first three days were difficult, and it seemed that our baby wasn't getting enough to eat.

We would put the baby on the breast, and she would latch on for a minute or

For those in Southern New England:Join Bellani Mat...

2007-08-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

For those in Southern New England:

Join Bellani Maternity for Cookies & Milk!:
Build Breastfeeding Awareness to Save Lives!
Wednesday, August 8, 9-11am, Warwick, RI

The simple act of breastfeeding can help save lives. By increasing breastfeeding rates around the world, we could save 1.3 million children annually and reduce mortality rates by 22%. This year's World

Dear Lisa:People like you who are too stupid to re...

2007-08-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Lisa:

People like you who are too stupid to realize the government is not forcing you to breastfeed your child by removing a sample of formula from a GIFT bag, I'll help clear the matter up for you.

1. It is not the government's responsibility to give new mom's ANYTHING. No one is entitled to a free can of Similac.

2. You can STILL ASK for formula at the hospital

Perhaps you should spend some time reading this bl...

2007-08-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you should spend some time reading this blog before you spout off with your assumptions?

Or perhaps you should retake high school english to learn what happens when you assume? ;)

If you would take the time to listen to what women here have to say, you would find that many of my regular readers are formula feeders. Some by choice, some by necessity.

You would

I can't believe any of you would have the moral wh...

2007-08-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe any of you would have the moral wherewithall to tell OTHER women what they should or should not do. I am assuming that you would want the government to rule your ability to make any choices about your life and would rather have the easy "out" instead of making your own decisions.
How foolish you all are.

I propose that not a single one of you have ever heard of the

Unfortunately, I don't get BabyTalk, so I don't ha...

2007-08-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I don't get BabyTalk, so I don't have any way to read the article.

Anyone want to scan it and email it to me?

Go NYC! I get formula sent to me in the mail! My...

2007-08-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

Go NYC! I get formula sent to me in the mail! My two children (5 and 2) have never had a drop of it. Anyway, I was wondering whether you saw the article in August BabyTalk "Breast Intentions" where the mom writes about weaning her two-year-old. I'm still nursing my son, and at first, I was happy to find an article about it. However, the weaning she describes sounds terribly traumatic. I

I generally like Elisabeth. In fact, I find her to...

2007-08-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

I generally like Elisabeth. In fact, I find her to be quite well informed on a variety of topics.

Unfortunately, she follows the mainstream on this issue. I remember that she breastfed her baby, but switched to formula very early on. Being a paid spokesperson for a formula company, I don't imagine she could get away with saying anything that was even neutral on this move, let alone

FYI on Bright Beginnings: It is made by the same ...

2007-08-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

FYI on Bright Beginnings: It is made by the same company that makes all the store brand formula with the possible exception of Target.

Wal-Mart, Kroger, Meijer, and Walgreens formula are all identical and cost a lot less than Bright Beginnings even though they are all the same.

Makes me even prouder than usual to be a NYer! Ho...

2007-08-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

Makes me even prouder than usual to be a NYer! Hopefully the private hospitals in NYC will follow suit. I gave birth to my two children at two different hospitals here in NYC and both of them pushed that formula sample bag as though it was crack and they were dealers offering up a free sample to get me hooked. I COULDN'T leave the hospital without the bag - even though I tried. And one of the

Elisabeth Hasselbeck is so uptight about issues in...

2007-08-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

Elisabeth Hasselbeck is so uptight about issues in general, it would surprise me to learn that she touched her own breasts.

The good news was that Joy Behar said she breastfed for 5 months and wished, in retrospect, that she had nursed for 5 years--to which the audience groaned in disgust. Elisbeth then chiped in about the "when they are old enough to speak, they're old enough to be

Ada Calhoun chimes in with a similar opinion (thou...

2007-08-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ada Calhoun chimes in with a similar opinion (though the title is controversial) and some good links over at her AOL blog as well... thought all of you might be interested, hope the link is going to work: http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2007/08/01/breastfeeding-isnt-always-best/

Oh watching that clip from The View just made me S...

2007-08-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

Oh watching that clip from The View just made me SO angry. "if they're old enough ask for it"?! Ugh! And Barbara Walters says at one point "if you want to breastfeed, that's just wonderful and *many* say it's much healthier" as if this is speculation. It *is* healthier.

That is FANTASTIC! Go NY! I too donated all my s...

2007-08-02T05:31:00.000-07:00

That is FANTASTIC! Go NY!

I too donated all my samples to my sister in law's friend who had twins and was breastfeeding but had supply issues so she was supplementing.

Wow, that's such a great policy!I noticed that the...

2007-08-02T02:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, that's such a great policy!

I noticed that the breastfeeding statistics at this hospital are really low (25%) compared with the national average (80% if using the CDC's number). It would be interesting to know more about the moms who deliver there.

Portland, OR hospitals stopped giving formula, too...

2007-08-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

Portland, OR hospitals stopped giving formula, too! Hooray!

Kudos to NYC for letting women choose which bag to...

2007-08-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

Kudos to NYC for letting women choose which bag to take home.

It doesn't surprise me one bit that Elisabeth Hasselbeck was the one spouting all the nonsense about how the government needs to leave women alone and let them choose to do as they please. I wanted to reach through the screen and strangle her when she said 'when they are old enough to ask for it, their too old to be nursing.'

The video clip is up on abc's website (http://abc....

2007-08-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

The video clip is up on abc's website (http://abc.go.com/video/index). It starts at the end of bad girls part 2 and continues on city government.

That's good news indeed. I don't think formula is ...

2007-08-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

That's good news indeed. I don't think formula is exactly comparable to a big mac, but it is NOT equal to breastmilk like the formula companies like to advertise. It should not be promoted by health officials unless it is necessary.

Ick about the view, but WTG, NYC!! That is just a...

2007-08-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

Ick about the view, but WTG, NYC!! That is just awesome! I agree - I believe in choice, but I really disagree with handing formula samples to moms while PG or post-partum. We all know where Walgreen's is. We can get formula if we need it....

Funny story... I've actually been given coupons f...

2007-08-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Funny story... I've actually been given coupons for Big Macs at hospitals. No foolin'.