CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Breastfeeding is generally viewed as the healthiest way to feed newborn babies. There's been a big push in recent years to get more moms to do it. Monday's talker is about the biggest push yet.
It's happening in New York City, and some are pushing back. The program is voluntary. About three quarters of New York's hospitals are taking part. They're no longer putting samples of baby formula in hospital "goodie bags" new moms get. And if a mom wants baby formula for her newborn, she -- and the hospital -- will have to jump thru some hoops.
The formula will be locked up in stockrooms and tracked like medication. And every time a mom asks for a new bottle, hospital staffers will give her a little talking-to about why nursing is better.
In terms of scientific research, there's a lot of evidence that nursing is better. The American academy of pediatrics recommends babies be breast fed for at least 12 months. But in terms of the wider real world, there's more to the story. Society doesn't always make it so easy to breastfeed.
There's often still a stigma attached to it. There's not much of a generational tradition of breastfeeding in American families. That creates ambivalence in a lot of new moms from the get-go; their moms didn't breastfeed them, and sometimes a new grandma won't hesitate to point that out.
There are also practical concerns, like mom is going to have to back to work pretty soon. A lot of women are lucky to get even a few weeks of paid time off after having a baby. A report citing government statistics says only 11 percent of private sector workers get paid-family leave through work.
And when new moms are at work, there's not always a decent place to pump breast milk to bring home later.
America is getting better at all this, but there's still a ways to go. The mother of a breast fed baby is a volunteer at "La Leche" -- a group that promotes nursing. And she gets the stigma things.
Twice she says, CTA bus drivers have pulled over, walked back to her, and told her to stop nursing on the bus.
But she says promoting formula in the hospital is not the answer, because it undermines a woman's confidence even more.
