Mayor Bloomberg: Breastfeed or Else Ask Nicely - Page 4 - Politics and Economics

**MrWookie** · 08-08-2012, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy_Fish

WHICH PART IS NOT HAPPENING DIDS. JFC

All the parts. Other than "NYC doing a thing relating to the feeding of babies in a hospital." Every sentence in your entire bold paragraph in the OP is false.

Happy_Fish · 08-08-2012, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrWookie

All the parts. Other than "NYC doing a thing relating to the feeding of babies in a hospital."

And all the other parts that are true. I mean, putting it in a pretty PDF and flowering up the wording doesn't change it.

Happy_Fish · 08-08-2012, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Myth: The city is requiring hospitals to put formula under lock and key.

Fact: Hospitals are not being required to keep formula under lock and key under the City’s voluntary initiative. Formula will be fully available to any mother who chooses to feed her baby with formula. What the program does is encourage hospitals to end what had long been common practice: putting promotional formula in a mother’s room, or in a baby’s bassinet or in a go-bag – even for breastfeeding mothers who had not requested it.

It's not locked up, it's just inaccessible without the hospital staff. I guess you can win that on some sort of technicality, if you really want to be right on the internet. The point is the same.

Happy_Fish · 08-08-2012, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Myth: Mothers who want formula will have to convince a nurse to sign it out by giving a medical reason.

Fact: Mothers can and always will be able to simply ask for formula and receive it free of charge in the hospital – no medical necessity required, no written consent required.

The article I posted never said that you would have to give a medical reason to begin with.

Happy_Fish · 08-08-2012, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Myth: Mothers requesting formula will be subject to a lecture from the nurse.

Fact: The City’s new initiative does not set a requirement that mothers asking for formula receive a lecture or mandated talk. For the last three years, New York State Law under the Breastfeeding Bill of Rights, has required that mothers simply be provided accurate information on the benefits of breastfeeding. This requirement has not changed under the City’s new initiative

"We already did this, so what's the big deal? You know, other than the removal of the formula"

Happy_Fish · 08-08-2012, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Myth: Latch on NYC is taking away and/or jeopardizing a woman’s right to choose how to feed her baby.

Fact: The initiative is designed to support mothers who decide to breastfeed. For those women, the program asks hospital staff to respect the mother’s wishes and refrain from supplementing her baby with formula (unless it becomes medically necessary or the mother changes her mind). It does not restrict the mother’s nursing options in any way – nor does it restrict access to formula for those who want it.

That's awesome, but nobody was arguing this at all.

Happy_Fish · 08-08-2012, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Myth: Formula will be forbidden in some fashion.

Fact: If a mother decides she wants to use formula (or a combination of formula and breastmilk), she will be supported in her decision and her baby will be given formula during the hospital stay. If a breastfeeding mother changes her mind or requests formula at any time, her baby will be given formula.

Another slaying of a great strawman.

**Dids** · 08-08-2012, 04:31 PM

You didn't post an article. You posted two paragraphs, one of which is simply editorial rambling and the other is again, basically not true.

You're now attempting to take an all purpose PDF that existed before the article to which you didn't bother to link was posted for not to-the-word addressing the issues raised in that article?

Don't play games. The article is clearly trying to paint a picture that's very different from reality. It's literally all there in black and white. (assuming you don't have stupid monitor settings).

**MrWookie** · 08-08-2012, 04:31 PM

Here's the full text of the article. The things in bold are false:

Quote:

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg cares a whole, whole lot about what you drink. First he acted to take away your 32-ounce Big Gulp. But be aware you don't have complete latitude among non-sugary beverages. He also wants to take away your baby formula.

The old axiom says conservatives want to keep the government out of your wallet and liberals want to keep it out of your bedroom. On the latter point, Bloomberg begs to differ.

As long as you're having sex, he'll respect your privacy. If that sex produces a baby, it's a different story.

Bloomberg enthusiastically favors breastfeeding infants. But he is not content to simply express his view for your consideration. He wants to use the power of government to induce conformity to his preference.

The city health department has already mounted a campaign to promote nursing with the slogan, "Breast milk is best for your baby," displayed on posters in subways and hospitals. Gentle persuasion, however, has not gotten the unanimous compliance that Bloomberg desires. So starting next month, all public hospitals in New York City will enforce rules to deter any mother who would think of contaminating her newborn with canned liquids.

If you want to use infant formula in the hospital, you will have to ask a nurse for it. The nurse will be required to deliver a grim lecture on why you are making a mistake. If you persist, the formula will be taken from its locked location, but the staff will have to sign it out, keep records on its distribution and forward the information to the health department. It may be easier to get marijuana.

In other hospitals in other cities, parents who are checking out get free bags, provided by formula companies, containing formula and other items of possible use to parents. That won't be allowed in the 27 New York hospitals operating under the Bloomberg rules. You want formula? Go buy it, somewhere else, if you dare.

This approach brings to mind the old totalitarian rule: Everything not forbidden is compulsory. If breastfeeding is good, why shouldn't everyone do it? And if some choose not to do it, why respect their choices? Bloomberg and the groups endorsing his policy are determined to get their way no matter what the desires of those who do the actual childbearing and child feeding.

Their motives are doubtless sincere. A raft of research indicates that breastfed children have higher IQs, fewer illnesses and less susceptibility to obesity than those who were deprived. The American Academy of Pediatrics, among others, urges nursing exclusively for a full six months.

Some advocates therefore regard infant formula as a public health menace. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has proposed mandatory warning labels on formula containers.

But infant formula is not the moral equivalent of unfiltered Camels. Though scientists almost universally agree it's better for all sorts of reasons, the evidence is less overwhelming than you might think.

New York Times health columnist Jane Brody reports that "no randomized, controlled trials—the gold standard of scientific research—have proved that breast-fed babies fare better, at least in industrialized countries."

Correlation is not cause. Most NBA players are tall, but playing in the NBA does not increase height.

Women who nurse tend to be better educated and wealthier than those who don't. Women with the time and inclination to breastfeed may devote more attention to their kids' development. Factors like these could play a big role.

But all this hasn't stopped the breastfeeding campaign from acquiring a judgmental and punitive edge. I know one young mother who, when her baby needed more nutrition than she could personally supply, felt guilty buying formula. "It would have been less embarrassing to buy condoms," she told me. "I scanned it myself so the cashiers wouldn't know I'm a bad mother."

Breastfeeding zealots downplay the numerous factors that cause mothers to supplement breast milk with formula or to give up nursing altogether—pain, inadequate lactation, job demands and illnesses requiring medications that infants should avoid.

Bloomberg can't know the unique circumstances and alternatives confronted by individual women. They can. They also have even more stake than he does in the health and well-being of their children. So he should grant great deference to their choices.

As a rule, it's a good idea for the government to stay off our backs. Fronts, too.

Happy_Fish · 08-08-2012, 04:31 PM

That was really hard to cut/paste Dids, good job good effort.

Happy_Fish · 08-08-2012, 04:32 PM

Quote:

That won't be allowed in the 27 New York hospitals operating under the Bloomberg rules. You want formula? Go buy it, somewhere else, if you dare.

This part I agree is false. The rest is all true.

**MrWookie** · 08-08-2012, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy_Fish

This part I agree is false. The rest is all true.

Then please, quote the parts of the NYC code that make it a requirement to notify the health department if a mother chooses formula.

Happy_Fish · 08-08-2012, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gizmo

I also have to laugh at the pointing out that nurses will be "forced" to document which method the baby is fed by. Every hospital, everywhere has been documenting intake and the way a baby has been fed for a really long time. This is nothing new, nor is it sensational.

............

**MrWookie** · 08-08-2012, 04:40 PM

Again, that "documentation" is part of a person's protected health information and not reported to the department of health. They write down what shots the infant has received, too!

13ball · 08-08-2012, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy_Fish

It's not locked up, it's just inaccessible without the hospital staff. I guess you can win that on some sort of technicality, if you really want to be right on the internet. The point is the same.

lol complete and uttter bull**** now officially declared a "technicality."

Obviously the government shouldn't ensure that new mothers get the best information. That's anti-freedom. Just give them a bag of **** and send them on their way, like the free market wants. Yay!