Fewer hospitals offer new moms free baby formula

Many U.S. hospitals have abandoned the once common practice of sending new moms home with a free supply of baby formula. Government researchers have found a big decline in the giveaways, a move many health organizations have encouraged to help promote breastfeeding over formula. A federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that in 2013, just under one-third of U.S. maternity wards offered baby formula giveaways, versus nearly three-fourths in 2007. Rates vary by region and the practice is much more common at hospitals in some Midwestern and Southern states than on both coasts.