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I was perusing the news articles on Yahoo, and came across this one.....
The rest of the article is here.
This is something that's kind of near and dear to me right now....as most of you know, I am currently pregnant with my first child. I fully intend on breastfeeding for at least the first six months, but will most likely breastfeed for a full year, possibly longer. I have to side with Governor Romney here, to a certain extent. I don't think they should outright ban the free samples - rather, they should be available to the mothers who request them.
On a related issue, I also disagree with another practice that many hospitals follow, wherein they almost immediately take the newborn infant to the nursery, and often do not bring it back to the mother for many hours. In my research, I have found that it is extremely important to start breastfeeding (if that is what you choose to do) within the first four hours after birth. Nurses will also often give the infants bottles of formula while they are in the nursery, which can severely diminish the infant's responsiveness to breastfeeding, as feeding from a bottle is much easier on the infant. That is why I fully intend to have it clearly written down, and understood by any medical staff that attends me, that my child is to stay in my room with me...I understand that following the birth, they will have to take the infant for a short time for tests and evaluation and all that, but make no mistake, they'd BETTER bring my baby straight back to my room! Those first few days are so critical for bonding, and I don't care how tired I am, my baby will be with me at all times unless it is otherwise NECESSARY.
Sorry for going off on that little tangent there.....
Your thoughts?
BOSTON (Reuters) - When it comes to breast-feeding, do mothers really know best?
ADVERTISEMENT
Officials in Massachusetts are debating whether to prohibit
hospitals from handing out free samples of infant formula, provided by formula companies, to new mothers. The state would be the first to ban the free formula.
Republican Gov. Mitt Romney says he believes mothers should decide how to feed their infants and has asked the state's Public Health Council to repeal the ban announced in December.
The council, part of the state's health agency, voted on Tuesday to suspend the ban and study the issue. They will decide in May whether to go ahead with the ban.
The rest of the article is here.
This is something that's kind of near and dear to me right now....as most of you know, I am currently pregnant with my first child. I fully intend on breastfeeding for at least the first six months, but will most likely breastfeed for a full year, possibly longer. I have to side with Governor Romney here, to a certain extent. I don't think they should outright ban the free samples - rather, they should be available to the mothers who request them.
On a related issue, I also disagree with another practice that many hospitals follow, wherein they almost immediately take the newborn infant to the nursery, and often do not bring it back to the mother for many hours. In my research, I have found that it is extremely important to start breastfeeding (if that is what you choose to do) within the first four hours after birth. Nurses will also often give the infants bottles of formula while they are in the nursery, which can severely diminish the infant's responsiveness to breastfeeding, as feeding from a bottle is much easier on the infant. That is why I fully intend to have it clearly written down, and understood by any medical staff that attends me, that my child is to stay in my room with me...I understand that following the birth, they will have to take the infant for a short time for tests and evaluation and all that, but make no mistake, they'd BETTER bring my baby straight back to my room! Those first few days are so critical for bonding, and I don't care how tired I am, my baby will be with me at all times unless it is otherwise NECESSARY.
Sorry for going off on that little tangent there.....
Your thoughts?