The New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force

Home

GIVING BABIES THE BEST START Medical Centers Receive Recognition for Supporting New Families In celebration of World Breastfeeding Week The New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, a committee of the New Mexico Pediatric Society, is presenting awards to hospitals in New Mexico that have eliminated the use of formula company marketing materials. Do you remember the day you brought your newborn home from the hospital?  Or, maybe you are looking forward to that day.  Feelings range from great joy and excitement, to confusion and, well, fear. Although your baby does not come with an instruction manual, hospitals usually provide some on-the-job training, and send home written (or DVD) materials. Now one item is disappearing from that package of hospital information: the formula company "gift bag."  Often encompassing a diaper bag or tote, packs contain infant feeding instructions, coupons, and formula samples.  But evidence has shown that this "gift" is really just a well-disguised marketing effort for expensive brand name infant formula.  And public health professionals consider these packs to be a serious obstacle to successful breastfeeding.  Mothers who received discharge packs are more likely to exclusively breastfeed for fewer than 10 weeks than are women who have not received the packs.   The American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement on Breastfeeding encourages pediatricians to "work actively toward eliminating hospital practices that discourage breast-feeding (e.g., promotion of infant formula in hospitals including infant formula discharge packs and formula discount coupons.)" The New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force congratulates all participating medical centers in their support of breastfeeding families.

HONOR ROLL RECIPIENTS IN NEW MEXICO Gallup Indian Medical Center Gallup, New Mexico Gerald Champion Medical Center Alamogordo, New Mexico Gila Regional Medical Center Silver City, New Mexico Memorial Medical Center Las Cruces, New Mexico MountainView Regional Medical Center Las Cruces, New Mexico Northern Navajo Medical Center Shiprock, New Mexico PHS Indian Hospital-Zuni Zuni, New Mexico Presbyterian Hospital Albuquerque, New Mexico San Juan Regional Medical Center Farmington, New Mexico University of New Mexico Hospital Albuquerque, New Mexico

Established 1988