The New York Post reports, “Mayor Bloomberg is pushing hospitals to hide their baby formula behind locked doors so more new mothers will breast-feed.” When my daughter was born, we had planned to breastfeed her, but she never learned how to latch on to a breast to breast-feed. But she would drink out of a bottle. So we were infinitely relieved when the hospital had plenty of baby formula we could give our daughter, since we did not yet possess an effective breast milk pump for her to drink out of the bottle. Lucky for us, our daughter did not get born in a New York hospital.
As The Daily Caller reports:
New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg is locking up the baby formula, because he wants newborns to drink breast milk instead.
He’s using his mayoral power to direct maternity-ward nurses to hide baby-milk formula after Sept. 2 so that new moms feel pressured to provide breast milk to their newborns.
Bloomberg’s mammary-mandate is supported by white-coated public-health officials, who say the scientific data shows that mothers’ milk aids infants’ digestive systems and shields them from some diseases.
His wishes are law because he controls much of the city’s health network in a city-wide version of Obamacare.
Since my daughter never learned to latch on, and it took hours a day for my wife to pump breast milk into bottles, we stopped giving our daughter breast milk after 5 months, and gave her formula thereafter. Although some pediatricians claim you need to breastfeed your kid for a year, my daughter turned out fine, with good health and the ability to read in two languages. (She will be entering kindergarten in the fall).
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I’d like to correct a myth is repeated here. Latch On NYC does not require hospitals to “hide” or “lock up” formula, nor does it restrict access to it for those who want it. Parents can and always will be able to simply ask for formula and receive it – no medical necessity required, no written consent. Ultimately, our goal is to support a mother in whatever decision she makes when it comes to nursing her baby and this initiative specifically is designed to support a mother who decides that she wants to breast-feed by asking participating hospital staff to respect her and refrain from automatically supplementing her baby with formula (unless it becomes medically necessary or the mother changes her mind).
Bottom line: It does not restrict the mother’s nursing options in any way – nor does it restrict access to formula for those who want it.
-sam miller, nyc health dept
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