Mayor Bloomberg is following up his soft drink restrictions with restrictions on the use of baby formula. Hospitals must document how much they stock and use and are encouraged to document a medical reason for each bottle used and to regularly instruct mothers on the benefits breast feeding over formula.
This is being presented as a public health issue, in that breastfeeding is generally better for the overall health of the infant. Formula companies will also use questionable marketing tactics to convince new mothers to switch to their products. So it's a good thing, right? Nurses are discouraged from just giving the infant formula because it is easier and mothers are encouraged to provide their newborns with the healthiest, most nurturing option available. Chalk up another point for positive government intervention and let's move on.
So what if it is another restriction on what women can do with their bodies? So what if it is more pressuring and more shaming on women to do something they may not want or may not be physically able to do? It's for the children, right?
The breastfeeding movement has strong proponents on both the right and left side of the fence. Liberals often couch it in terms of it being natural and promoting the mother-child bond. Conservatives may be opposed to breast-feeding in public, but they still think that it is an important role for the mother. Objectively, it has a lot of benefits. Breast milk carries antibodies that help strengthen the infant's immune system. Breast milk changes over time to meet the infant's needs in terms of nutrition and hydration and will change even during one nursing session. Formula isn't that flexible and, despite all of the research that has gone into it, still provides only a rough approximation of the nutrition of breast milk. Infants need a lot of tactile stimulation to help mature neurologically and breast feeding provides much more than sitting in a bassinet holding a bottle.
On the other hand, breast feeding can be hard on the mother. Not as hard as pregnancy itself, but her body will still strain to produce the milk. Moreover, having to wake up every few hours to breastfeed or to pump can be very stressful. This stress can worsen health issues or create new ones. Different women also have different abilities to produce milk and in many cases a new mother can't produce enough milk to meet the nutritional needs of her child. In other cases a mother might be on medication that can be transferred to her breast milk and pose a risk to the infant.
And some women may not want to breastfeed. Maybe it is painful for them, or makes them feel uncomfortable. Maybe they need to go back to work right away and need the baby to be used to formula.
And that is the point. It is the mother's body and she has right to choose what to do with it even after the baby is born. Legislation shaming her and making it more difficult to access formula is reminiscent of anti-abortion laws forcing her to have ultrasounds and lectures about the supposed health effects of abortion. The last thing a vulnerable new mother needs is to have people moralizing or questioning her choices or being made to feel guilty for not trying hard enough because her body can't produce enough milk.
Breastfeeding is a good thing but there is a fine line between encouraging it and forcing it on people. This policy crosses the line and is yet another instance of telling women what to do with their bodies.
Note: After writing this I came across this article that does a great job of covering the ethics of this issue.