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.
No comments:
Post a Comment