New York breastfeeding initiative: more control or more choice?
On September 3, some New York City hospitals will implement a new policy. Formula will no longer be given to newborns for free. In fact, it won’t be given without a doctor’s order. Instead of being readily available in nurseries, it will be kept locked in a cabinet, and nurses will need written permission to bottle feed an infant.
Most of the response to this idea has been negative. It’s been called a “ban,” a “nanny state”, a push that “forces” women to breastfeed, a move to take away choice.
But as much as I support mother’s feeding choices, I think the naysayers on this one are dead wrong.
Why?
First, let me clear up a few myths that have been circulating about the Latch On initiative. It does not involve banning formula from hospitals so it’s unavailable for babies who need it. Nor does it involve lecturing mothers who ask for formula. What it does involve is a conversation between mothers and nurses before a baby is given formula. Yes, there needs to be a “medical reason” to dispense formula. How exactly that will be applied is anyone’s guess right now — is the mother’s mental health a medical reason? How about her simple desire to formula feed? If you’re planning on formula feeding, will your doctor write a note before your baby is born stating that you plan to formula feed and your baby can have formula? I’m going to go out on a limb and say probably yes.
But let’s suppose they won’t. Let’s suppose that a woman who is planning to formula feed without a “medical” reason will not be “allowed” to get formula at the hospital. I doubt that’s the case, but even if it were, is this really such a horrible thing? Because here’s the truth: Nothing is free at hospitals. Nothing. They charge you for drinking water, diapers, gowns, and maxi pads. The only thing that’s free to a birthing woman at a hospital is formula, which many women don’t even want. And it’s not free because the hospital is concerned about the well-being of hungry babies. It’s free because formula companies pay for it — out of their marketing budget — and give it to hospitals. Because they know that babies who have formula during the first few days are much, much more likely to become long-term customers. How is that ethical? How is that choice?
And that is why you bring stuff to the hospital. You bring your own chapstick and baby clothes. You probably bring a few diapers and even some toiletries for yourself. Is it really that big a deal to bring some formula if you know you want to use it? And if you’re going to argue that some women can’t afford it, let me point out the obvious that you’re going to have to buy it when you get home anyway, and WIC includes formula.
And in any case, the women who walk into the hospital planning to formula feed are a significant minority. That doesn’t make their needs or desires any less important. But it does mean there are a lot more women who are having the opposite problem. In New York City, 90% of women walk into the hospital stating they intend to breastfeed. But only 39% of newborns are exclusively breastfed. That means around 50% of mothers are not succeeding in their chosen plan. They’re not formula feeding because they want to — they’re formula feeding because something went wrong.
And what went wrong? For some of them, it’s just biology. Their bodies simply don’t produce enough milk and never would have. But, although nobody knows exact statistics on how many women that’s true for, the likelihood is that most women are capable of breastfeeding. Which means that many of these women could have breastfed, and the problem was preventable.
And much of the time, the thing that went wrong was not just preventable — it was something that a medical professional did wrong.
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