BOSTON -- The widespread practice of giving gift bags filled with baby formula and other freebies to new mothers has been banned at hospitals in Massachusetts in a move by state health officials to promote breast-feeding.
The ban doesn't forbid hospitals from giving out free formula, but it ends a longtime marketing practice that breast-feeding advocates say was designed to turn harried new mothers toward a less healthy alternative, and also implied an endorsement of formula by hospitals.
"There's no free lunch and there's no free gift," said Beth Sargent, a lactation consultant from Needham. "A gift is something given freely without the anticipation of a return. There is absolutely an anticipation of return."
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