INDIANAPOLIS -- The decision whether to nurse or bottle feed is one of the first choices a new mother will make.

While in the hospital, breast-feeding is recommended, but many hospitals send a mixed message by sending mothers home with formula bags, 6News' Jennifer Carmack reported.

Baby Casen is just a day old, but his mother had already made an important decision about his future.

"I'm trying to breast-feed. It's going pretty good so far," said Casen's mother, Tacie Cullingford.

Doctors recommend breast-feeding for at least the first six months.

"Babies have more immunity protection from mom, get a better start, have better outcomes in life," said Lori Warner, director of women and children's services.

Some hospitals began sending mother's home with a healthy baby bounty bag, a breast-feeding support kit, instead of the formula bag.

"One of our lactation consultants found this company and brought it to me and said, 'I think this would be a good resource for our breast-feeding moms,'" Warner said.

The discharge bag filled with information, samples and coupons are now being distributed by a handful of hospitals in central Indiana, including St. Francis.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 71 percent of Hoosier mothers breast feed at some point, but only 10 percent stick with it for six months.

Cullingford said she believes the bag will encourage her to nurse longer.

"The information just kind of helps me feel a little bit better, like if something's not working, I can try something else," she said.

Statistics indicate that only 13 percent of low-income moms in the U.S. stick with nursing for six months.

The American Academy of Pediatrics thinks the number is low because state Women, Infants and Children programs distribute free formula.

That statistic could change because some Indiana WIC facilities are now handing the breast feeding products out, too.