New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and
state officials are pushing initiatives aimed at encouraging new mothers to
breastfeed their babies, drawing criticism from some parents who say officials
are interfering with their health choices.
State health commissioners announced on
Tuesday that letters highlighting the importance of breastfeeding were being
sent to hospitals, reminding them of regulations limiting unnecessary formula
feedings for breastfed newborns.
The state initiative coincides with
Bloomberg's call for hospitals to lock away their baby formula and have nurses
encourage new mothers to breastfeed.
Under the mayor's plan, slated to start
September 3, the city will keep a record of the number of bottles that
hospitals stock and use. Formula would be signed out like medication.
The pro-breastfeeding campaign has drawn
the ire of some women who argue it stigmatizes infant formula and interferes
with a mother's choice of what to feed her child.
A number of the city's other health
initiatives -- including cracking down on large-sized sodas and banning smoking
in public places -- have attracted similar criticism from those who accuse the
mayor of creating a "nanny" state.
"I breastfed both of my kids and it
took me a good three weeks before I figured it out," said Rene Syler, who
wrote about the issue on her website Goodenoughmother.com. "I can't
imagine what it must be like to be in the hospital with someone sort of
standing over your shoulder and lecturing you every time you ask for a bottle
to feed your crying baby."
Under current regulations, hospitals are
only allowed to provide formula to infants who have an indicated medical reason
and a doctor's order for the supplemental feedings, the state health department
said in a statement.
Still, only 39.7 percent of newborn infants
in New York are exclusively breastfed -- well below the federal government goal
of 70 percent, the state health department said. Roughly half of breastfed
infants received supplemental formula in the hospital.
"We recognize that there are women
that won't be able to breastfeed or chose to not breastfeed for a variety of
reasons and that is a choice they should be able to make," said Dr.
Barbara Wallace, the state health department's director of chronic disease
prevention.
The state health department said the
benefits of breastfeeding included fewer episodes of acute respiratory
illnesses, inner-ear infections and gastroenteritis.
Mothers who do not breastfeed are at
increased risk for postpartum bleeding and anemia, and have higher rates of
breast cancer later in life, the health department statement said.
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