Over the weekend I read an interesting blog post regarding the ethical dilemma in marketing baby products to new mothers at the hospital. According to the article in many  US hospitals the mothers and mothers-to-be receive free formula samples from their healthcare providers. This actually results in an increase in baby product sales due to mothers’ loyalty to the brand they already had experience with. These samples are often  the most expensive ones on the market, therefore resulting in huge costs for the parents after child’s birth if continued to be used. It poses an issue since this product marketing is done at a time when mothers are most vulnerable, and listen most to advice from their physicians and the hospital to ensure health of their child.

Overall I agree with this article about the timing of the product promotion. It may seem like a good gesture from the healthcare provider, but it’s true intent is to initiate a relationship between the product and the mothers in order to boost sales. This could also raise baby’s health issues due to over-excessive use of baby formulas. On the other hand it is difficult to label this as “unethical marketing” since these baby formulas are not provided directly by the patient’s physicians, and are merely free “convenience” samples. Therefore the factor of personal responsibility is also important to consider as we could point out that it is the mother’s responsibilities to make decisions regarding whether or not to use these products.

Work Cited:

“Formula Marketing in Hospitals: Ethical or Unethical? – Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County.” Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County – Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County: Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. <http://www.healthystartorange.org/1/post/2012/05/formula-marketing-in-hospitals-ethical-or-unethical.html>.