NYC mayor announces big push for breastfeeding.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg announced a new campaign this week to encourage NYC moms to breastfeed.  The New York Post reports:

Now that he has weaned New Yorkers off smoking and trans fats, Mayor Bloomberg is launching a multimillion-dollar good-parenting campaign that includes a push to put more newborns to the breast.

The city Health Department is spending more than $2 million in city-run hospitals to encourage moms to breast-feed.

"We don't yet have any hospitals in New York City that meet national 'baby-friendly' standards," Bloomberg's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, said at a parenting conference last week.

"That means getting formula out of the nursery. It means putting the baby on the breast immediately after birth. It means that every person who interacts with that mother and child is supportive and encouraging of breast-feeding."

The article also states that city-run hospitals will also be "formula diaper bag free," a topic which I've written about previously.  The city also plans to strengthen a program which provides nurses to do home visits to new moms.

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