Front PageNYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Locks up Formula in Hospitals to Encourage Mothers to Nurse

Posted: Aug 3rd, 2012 6:26 PM | Updated: Aug 3rd, 2012 6:36 PM

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New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg is touting a new voluntary breastfeeding program called Latch On NYC. To encourage new moms to start nursing their babies, the mayor's initiative will have baby formula at hospitals locked up.

Just because the formula is being squirreled away at hospitals doesn't mean moms can't insist on giving their babies a bottle, but nurses will have to sign out the formula as of Sept. 3, reports the Associated Press. The stuff is always kept on hand in case fussy babies don't want to latch on or new mothers decide not to breastfeed.

Usually moms are sent home with gift bags filled with giveaways of infant formula and other free stuff branded with company logos, but already 27 of NYC's 40 hospitals have reportedly said they'll abandon the goodie bags.

While some might call this latest move just another one of Bloomberg's attempts to move the city toward a "nanny state,"  the National Alliance for Breast-feeding Advocacy says the program is just fantastic. The Alliance's stance is that restricting access to baby formula in the same way medications are locked up will stop staffers from heading straight to the bottle instead of trying to help new mothers begin nursing.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has long pushed the health benefits of breastfeeding, saying that moms who stick to that method for the six months of a baby's life will help their child's ability to fight many illnesses and allergies.

5 Responses to “NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Locks up Formula in Hospitals to Encourage Mothers to Nurse”

  1. Anonymous says:

    All formula ? Or just the sixteen ounce bottles?

  2. Anonymous says:

    He is anti bottle. If the mother smokes pot and nurses that is probably ok with him. Thank you mayor for saving us. No salt, large sodas, formula, trams fat? Two men should be allowed to marry as long as there are no large sodas at the wedding. Smoke pot just don't get too thirsty. what a nut.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Nursing is disgusting and not tznius

  4. Anonymous says:

    to 8:18: there is no way you are an adult, I hope by the time you have kids you change your views.... tznius?? how do you think babies survived before formula came out? what do you think our Sarah, Rivkah, and Leah did?

  5. Anonymous says:

    I'm all for nursing, but, Bloomy should keep out of this. It''s a woman's choice how to feed her baby and should not be up to a dictator of a mayor. And as far as tsnius -- Of course a woman must do it in private or cover herself properly, but it has been done since Brias HoOlaom, formula iis a modern invention.

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