Readers respond to the latest paternalism from New York's mayor:
I take issue with the comparison you're drawing between this ban and the soda ban. First of all, the "ban" on the bottle is not really a ban at all. It's more like the "behind-the-counter" standard set for Pseudoephedrine – the mother still has access to it but has to ask for it. The really objectionable part is the speech that hospital workers are required to give women who opt for formula.
Another writes:
I am a lactation consultant. Believe me, my job is to know the problems breastfeeding moms and babies face.
One of the biggest problems is incorrect information such as that given by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. Eighty percent of medications, including most antidepressants, are compatible with breastfeeding. Most breast infections and low milk supplies are caused by early breastfeeding mismanagement. Our health care system is a big part of the problem. It is very difficult and often expensive for new moms to get adequate breastfeeding information, help, and support.
So this ban is not about forcing women to breastfeed but a small step in helping women meet their own goals. If a new mother does not want to breastfeed, the hospital will still give the baby formula while there. It just won't send her home with free formula or bags. Formula companies spend big money to cozy up to doctors, nurses, and new parents in order to undermine breastfeeding and to get babies drinking their brand of formula in the hospital because they know whatever formula is started in the hospital is the one most parents will stick with at home. This ban is purely about restricting marketing to a vulnerable population.
Another:
To understand the baby formula rule change, it helps to understand how entrenched the formula companies are in hospitals now. My wife gave birth five years ago and three years ago in a New York hospital. Each time, less than an hour after giving birth, we were presented with a backpack stitched with a formula company's name, two cans of the stuff, branded bottles, and other supposed goodies. We told the nurse we didn't want the materials, and she responded that they were required to give it to us. (We gave it to the couple in the next room, who wanted to formula-feed).
As I read the article, "hospitals have agreed" to stop forcing such advertisements and products on new mothers, and those who ask for formula will still get it. Of course, some nurses could turn into scolds, but my suspicion is that most will not want to spend all day lecturing patients, and will bring formula to those who want it. The difference between the baby formula rules and the soda ban is that big sodas were in fact banned – this rule mainly keeps people from being forced to accept a bunch of plastic crap with a formula company's name on it.
The Dish 