You may or may not be aware of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his penchant for banning things. If you've read an earlier blog entry of mine, then you already know I don't like the man. Bloomberg has made it his personal mission to parent New York City by passing laws that take the freedom of choice away from its citizens. First, he banned the food industry from using any trans fat in products.
Then he limited the cup sizes used to obtain fountain soda in
convenience stores. Now, starting this September, he wants to keep baby formula under lock and
key in order to encourage breastfeeding.
Perhaps none of this sounds so bad if you agree these are choices
you would make. However, that's my point. Bloomberg keeps making it his business to decide for you, which I believe violates citizens' personal rights to decide what they do with their own bodies. His latest cause has got me fired up more than anything before.
Bloomberg has decided he also knows what's best for your newborn child? I didn't realize Bloomberg birthed and breastfed a child himself.
After becoming a new mom, no issue grew more tiresome for me than the
issue of breastfeeding. I know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for the first six months to boost babies' immunities. I agree that it if that is true, it is probably best to do so or at least try for a short while, but
here's a news flash— not everyone can! I was one of them. Besides, the AAP doesn't have a pulse on every specific child and situation and neither does Bloomberg.
I was very upset when we realized my son was losing too much weight and it was because he wasn't getting enough milk from me. I was brainwashed to
believe there was no other way but to breastfeed. I mean, I had an inkling it wasn't the end of the world, but breastfeeding was my plan! I spent several appointments with a lactation specialist and I still remember the incredible guilt I felt at the thought of giving up on breastfeeding even though I was exhausted.
I spent the majority of my day for the first two weeks feeding my son and I couldn't keep up. I went from breastfeeding for awhile to bottle feeding him formula and then to pumping to see if I could improve the amount of milk I produced. This took about 1.5 hours of time. And he was eating every two hours. Suffice it to say, this process didn't last long. Who could keep that up? I had to stop pumping because it was taking up too much time and I was tired. I still tried breastfeeding for as long as three months despite my knowledge our son wasn't getting much. I could have stopped sooner, but there was this guilt that told me I couldn't. It was the voice of all the breastfeeding proponents and my lactation specialist. I resent the people who were "helping" me because they wouldn't let me off the hook. I remember tiredly asking my lactation specialist, "how long do I keep this up before it's just too much and pointless?" Her response was that she couldn't tell me. It was up to me and she encouraged me to keep trying. All I wanted was for her to tell me it's OK to stop, but no. She looked past the new mom's tired eyes and gave the safe answer that relinquished her of any responsibility and furthered the cause. I'm all for healthy babies, but I also support keeping moms sane.
My son is perfectly
fine even though he wasn't breastfed much. He's still never been sick. You could argue that's because I kept breastfeeding him or you could say it's all dumb luck. There are a lot of working moms that simply cannot keep it up for the six months that are recommended. Day cares try to be flexible now to allow working moms to come breastfeed their babies during lunch breaks, which is nice, but seriously, what working mom can do that long before they say enough? Isn't the working mom already burning the candle from both ends? I resent this propaganda— from the "extremies" as I like to call them— that you are a bad mother if you don't breastfeed. I don't even understand Bloomberg's claim that nurses are dolling out formula to new moms like it's in an effort to thwart breastfeeding. That is not the experience I had in the hospital at all. I never once was encouraged to do anything but breastfeed. I did receive the free bags from formula companies, but those didn't cause me to switch to formula in lieu of breastfeeding. In fact, thank God for the gift bags because it saved us in a very serious situation with my newborn son.
It was day five of breastfeeding and that morning he wouldn't stop screaming and crying. He had been losing too much weight and my husband and I were beside ourselves. We had avoided giving him formula because we were working with the lactation specialist and were going in that morning. We thought we weren't supposed to give him any formula or he would not drink breast milk (or so the propaganda goes). It was my natural instinct to just give him formula so he wouldn't be hungry, but I had held out for the guilt that that was the wrong choice. I had no idea if what he was getting was enough until that morning and the screaming wouldn't stop. It was then that we stopped caring what anyone said and gave him the formula. It was too painful to see him so upset and we felt like our child was starving— because he was.
Once we went in to see the specialist later that morning, she said she was glad we gave him the formula, which only made me angry because she never once said we should. I had blindly followed every piece of instruction from her that I didn't dare step out of line with anything she said so to me. By omitting any suggestion of formula, I assumed that was not necessary yet. I felt so lost in the inundation of information of "right" and "wrong" ways to parent, but I decided that morning to forget it. Just feed your screaming child. I felt so stupid and ashamed for not following my gut. So to purposely get rid of the free gift bags in hospitals is sad to me. As a new mom without a clue, I appreciated the supplies in those bags and it saved us in a desperate situation. It provided us with small bottles, carriers and freezer packs we still use today.
Bloomberg's policy does nothing but weigh harder on the conscience of new moms who need some relief and formula. And isn't that the point? To bully anyone considering an alternative? I think it's despicable. And I don't understand why moms everywhere aren't objecting. Bloomberg knows nothing about being a mom yet he's trying to control women's bodies. I would think this issue would be just as heated as other currently debated women's body issues. Maybe the hospital is too soon to decide if a baby needs formula, but I know I will be anxious about needing it next time I have a baby. It is unlikely I will be able to produce enough milk the next time. I don't think I can go through all of that again, wondering if my child is going hungry until it reaches the point of screaming and starvation.
I don't necessarily disagree with the perspective he's cramming down everyone's
throats. I don't smoke. I prefer to eat food without trans fat. I understand that too
much soda isn't good for me so I try to limit what I drink. Lastly, I
believe breastfeeding is good, but I don't believe any of these things
are life and death circumstances. I support people's choice to do the
opposite of any of these things. I don't understand why there aren't
simply campaigns to educate and let the demand of the people determine
what is provided. People who suffer from heart disease and obesity are
not going to stop suffering until they make some serious life changes on
their own. If a mom is determined not to breastfeed, she won't. Restricting the formula handed out in hospitals isn't going to prevent any bottle feeding. You can still ask for it or purchase in stores although my concern is Bloomberg will get to that too. To pass these kind of laws only make it annoying for people who choose the opposing view and most likely generate money for the government enforcing
the laws. You don't think for every policy passed there are government
agencies created to enforce them? They are tracking what moms use the formula in the hospitals. Big Brother is watching!
I
care about the policies passed in NYC because this is where it starts. One very large city adapts
policies and next thing you know, another city and then another city are
doing it too. Bloomberg's policies have been enforced in other major cities and I don't want it to happen where I live. I can't get over the way people allow frivolous laws to pass because they don't mind them despite the infringement on choice. We're all just fine limiting people's rights so long as it agrees with our own opinion, but sooner or later, something will come down the pipeline you don't like and you will want people to care. We have to start being more vigilant about the amount of power we allow our leaders and government to control our lives. We're grown ups who should be able to decide how we live our lives so long as we're not hurting others. When did common sense stop existing? Just give people the facts and leave them alone.
