A recent study, which appeared in the February edition of the American Journal of Public Health, found that two-thirds of Oregon breastfeeding women receive free formula in a discharge pack as they are leaving the hospital. Women who get the free formula are less likely to be exclusively breastfeeding by the time the baby is 10 weeks old than the women who do not get the free formula. The major birthing hospitals in the Portland area have banned the bags, and the Oregon legislature has taken steps to guarantee workplace accommodations for breastfeeding mothers.

DISCHARGE PACKS ARE STILL A PROBLEM:  In Marketing Infant Formula through Hospitals:  the Impact of Commercial Hospital Discharge Packs on Breastfeeding, Authors Ken Rosenberg, Carissa Eastham, Laurin Kasehagen, and Alfredo Sandoval used data from almost 4,000 post-partum women surveyed by the 2000 and 2001 Oregon Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) to evaluate the relationship between exclusive breastfeeding and the receipt of commercial hospital discharge packs in Oregon women who initiated breastfeeding before newborn hospital discharge.  Two-thirds of these women received discharge packs, and women who received the packs were far more likely to exclusively breastfeed for fewer than 10 weeks.  The authors concluded that commercial hospital discharge packs are one of several factors that influence breastfeeding duration and exclusivity, but the distribution of these packs to new mothers at hospitals is part of a longstanding marketing campaign by infant formula manufacturers and implies hospital and staff endorsement of infant formula. Commercial hospital discharge pack distribution should be reconsidered in light of its negative impact on exclusive breastfeeding.    

BAN THE BAGS:  All of the major birthing hospitals in the Portland area have discontinued giving free formula to postpartum women. The national Ban the Bags campaign is encouraging people to pressure hospitals to stop giving out free infant formula in discharge packs. For more information, visit www.banthebags.org.

MOMS WHO PUMP PROTECTED UNDER NEW LAW:  Legislative Support for Working Breastfeeding Mothers

We found that many women stopped breastfeeding when they went back to school or work. The Oregon legislature passed the Breastfeeding and Return to Work Law, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2008.  This law guarantees workplace accommodation for breastfeeding mothers.  The law applies to pumping breast milk, addresses time and space needs and provides a remedy for non-compliance.  It covers 70 percent of the Oregon work force and applies to ful-l and part-time workers.