Free Crap

I never got the dreaded box of Enfamil on my doorstep. The diaper samples. The baby shampoo samples. None of them ever passed from my mailman's hands to my mailbox.

I've read about so many of you whose hearts have skipped a beat and your breath was taken away by the sight of those previously benign objects of babyhood. I thought to myself, "Hmm. Maybe she registered somewhere and she ended up on the 'list'. Good thing I didn't do that." I felt horrible for each of you who've had the courage to call those sinister companies to get off their lists.

The other day, I was describing how a blog friend felt when Similac appeared on her doorstep the week her baby was due. As I rambled on and on, my husband finally said, "I threw it all away."

Apparently, my name didn't escape the 'list.' I was impressed by and grateful for my husband's proactive approach. With the cancer and E's due date, he didn't think I could handle one more thing. So, he made sure he got to the mailbox first and dumped all that free crap. What a guy. :)

My astonishment with my husband didn't stop with the mail. He said he called the hospital where I delivered E and asked to speak to an administrator. He very politely told the administrator that I never registered my name or my baby's due date at any store or website. The only source for that information was the hospital. My husband told him that he's certain somebody within the hospital sold my name and pertinent information. My husband told the administrator that our baby died. The practice of selling names must stop.

I don't know what the administrator will do with my husband's revelation. I've tried googling 'hospital sells obstetric patient names', etc., but nothing appears. If in fact hospital personnel do sell patient information, something must be done. It's a violation of privacy. It's a breach of confidentiality. I'm just grateful my husband thought about this when his naive wife failed to do so.