Once again, I woke up this morning and began trolling the vast waters of the Internet to see if there were any interesting news stories that caught my attention. Sometimes there are and sometimes there aren't. Today, I found a number of stories that caught my attention, however, I will only focus on one as I usually do. This story hits home for me as I have a 7 month old son (yes, he is almost 7 months now, can't believe it myself) who is still largely breast feeding. Whats the big story you ask? Well, I am about to tell you. It seems that in an effort to get new mothers to breast feed from the outset and to continue for as long as possible, NY City hospitals will be getting rid of the free sample of baby formula that is normally given out in a gift bag when mothers and their newborns leave the hospital. This move is being executed along with an increase in support and education about breast feeding while women are still in the hospital. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, mothers are encouraged to breast feed exclusively for at least six months after giving birth and then at least up to a year while other foods are being introduced. How many mothers actually make it to the six month mark? Well, 90% of new mothers start off breast feeding but by the 2 month mark, that percentage drops drastically to an abysmal 31%. This isn't an effort by hospitals (not all of which are participating) to say that formula is bad, it is merely an effort to push breast feeding which is proven to be the best source of nutrients and immunity for a newborn. (Article Here!)
Now I can see some mothers getting in an outrage already about this saying that people don't understand how hard it is to breast feed, especially after going back to work, and that it is their choice about what to feed their newborn. Well, as I mentioned before, hospitals are not about to start bad mouthing formula, so lets take that argument off the table, they are just not going to give out free samples. In regards to the difficulty of breast feeding after returning to work, however, I can see first hand how it takes a toll as my wife is still breast feeding exclusively except for a small amount of solid foods we feed our son every day. I hear about how hard it is to find an adequate place for my wife to pump her milk. I see the exhaustion on her face after feeding our son for the last time each night before we put him to bed. Breast feeding is definitely not easy and I for one wouldn't want to go through it, however, if you want what is best for your child, then maybe it is worth it to struggle through the difficulties and continue breast feeding for six months. There are a number of different reasons that breast feeding is better, the first of which is that every mother produces milk that is specifically designed for the needs of her baby. As the baby gets older, the milk changes in accordance with his/her needs. Does formula change according to what a baby needs? I don't think so. Beyond simply being designed for a specific baby, breast milk also provides the newborn with the mother's immunities. Can formula do that for a newborn? Not in the least.
But it is not my place to tell mother's what they should or shouldn't do, I am merely a proponent of breast feeding and its benefits for a newborn and infant. I also support what a good number of NY city hospitals are choosing to do by not giving out free formula samples and instead focusing on education and support for breast feeding. And if you don't believe me about breast feeding, as I stepped away from the computer for a minute to refill my coffee cup, my wife decided to plop herself down in my seat and add her two cents on breast feeding. Here is what she had so say in her own words: "IT IS ONLY 6-12 MONTHS OF YOUR LIFE NOT THE WHOLE THING. YOUR GOING TO BE EXHAUSTED FOR THE NEXT 18 YEARS MIGHT AS WELL PROVIDE YOUR CHILD WITH THE BEST YOU CAN FOR THAT SMALL FRACTION OF THEIR LIFE. YUP THAT IS WHAT I GOT!!!!! :):):):)" So you see, my wife would agree that it is not the easiest task in the world to perform especially after going back to work, but she is pushing through because she sees the benefits of it. Hey, all I am doing is throwing this out there. If you don't agree and want to continue feeding your infant formula, I won't hold it against you, but consider the pros and cons before you do anything with your child. After all, it is the beginning of the rest of their life.
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