The Nanny State

New York City hospitals are giving a whole new dimension to what it means to live in the "Nanny State":

First they moved against smoking, and then trans fats. Now, city health officials are taking on the bottle -- as in a baby's bottle...Baby bottles beware. City hospitals don't want you around. Instead, they want infants to eat at Mom's instead.

 ...The push toward breastfeeding means a ban on freebie formula when you leave the hospital. "It was just the diaper bag and formula information and formula and we don't do that here anymore," Nelson said.

You won't see any posters or promotional materials for formula. They've been banned at this hospital and 10 other New York City hospitals....

About a quarter of women who deliver at city hospitals choose to breastfeed. City officials want that number to triple by 2010.

One could probably make a ton of money by figuring out which is the next industry that will be targeted.

Comments

[T]

I think all you have to do is find out what the latest health issue the experts are talking about.

Perhaps luxury goods will be targeted since they *force* Americans into debt, and Americans have a negative savings rate, and those advertisements for expensive sneakers mean kids think they have to have them and they force the parents to get them and therefore it must be regulated so we can improve the financial well being of the country before China overtakes us...

I'm intentionally rambling here.

[T]

I think all you have to do is find out what the latest health issue the experts are talking about.

Perhaps luxury goods will be targeted since they *force* Americans into debt, and Americans have a negative savings rate, and those advertisements for expensive sneakers mean kids think they have to have them and they force the parents to get them and therefore it must be regulated so we can improve the financial well being of the country before China overtakes us...

I'm intentionally rambling here.

[pwyll]

I have no problem with the policy as long as it isn't rammed down people's throats, and choices are still available to individuals. Breastfeeding is good for IQ, and IQ is our most precious natural resource, so as long as formula isn't legally banned I think the poicy is fine. If the IQ benefits of breastfeeding are explained to parents I think most of them would prefer to have smarter, rather than dumber, children.

[save_the_rustbelt]

The breast feeding fanatics pop up regularly and harass new moms constantly.

When our first grandchild arrived the fanatics circled around my daughter, until she and my wife (tough veteran nurse) told them to go fly a kite, 'cause it wasn't working.

New role for government, good grief.

[save_the_rustbelt]

The breast feeding fanatics pop up regularly and harass new moms constantly.

When our first grandchild arrived the fanatics circled around my daughter, until she and my wife (tough veteran nurse) told them to go fly a kite, 'cause it wasn't working.

New role for government, good grief.

[save_the_rustbelt]

The breast feeding fanatics pop up regularly and harass new moms constantly.

When our first grandchild arrived the fanatics circled around my daughter, until she and my wife (tough veteran nurse) told them to go fly a kite, 'cause it wasn't working.

New role for government, good grief.

[dissent]

I don't get it. Bottle feeding is 'targeted' because mom's are not sent home with freebie formula?

If that's the gist of the policy, get a grip.

Sometimes the 'nanny state' is a state of mind!

[alex]

You folks are overreacting to an unclear report. I'll be the first to say that NYC goes overboard with some of their silly and intrusive laws and regulations, but this is not a change in law or regulation.

It's a policy change that affects only NYC HHC (Health and Hospitals Corp.) hospitals (ie the municipally owned and operated hospitals). It does not affect any other hospitals in NYC.

See http://www.1010wins.com/pages/738748.php?contentType=4&contentId=737454

[Spergler]

I understand your point, and certainly your "More Nanny State" entry about the iPhone fits the premise. But I don't understand your logic here. It seems to me that the Nanny State action was telling women that they shouldn't breastfeed while subsidizing the formula industry by giving away free ads and free samples.

[Eric H]

Ditto Spergler. This seems more like the reversal of a corporate welfare state policy. Huzzah!

[Becky]

How is this a "nanny state"? As it is, most hospitals send a mixed message of "Breast is best, but don't forget your free formula samples, which I'll hand to you as I stand under an ad for formula!" If hospitals are focusing more on positive breastfeeding messages, then good for them and good riddance to Nestle.

[jeaninep]

In todays boston globe there was an article on the low numbers of women who are breast feeding their babies and of those who do many arent doing it for the recomended six months for the child to recieve the full benefits of the important antibodies that need to be built up to protect the immune system.
I dont see this as a funtion of a nanny state but a proactive way to get women to understand the important value in breast feeding.It is the cheapest and most efficient way to maintain long term overall health.If this is what you reguard as a nanny state solution Im all for it.A healthier kid is better for everyone in the long run.

[Mike Schilling]

If the anti-smoking fanatics have their way, new Moms won't be sent home with free cigarettes either.

[BobN]

What I want to know is why diabetics don't get sent home with a box of chocolates.

[BobN]

Uhh... who pays for the "free" formula?

[BobN]

Obstetricians working to benefit the new-born!?!?! This is what liberalism leads to, I tell ya...

[J]

Yes, we shouldn't stand for hospitals encouraging a practice that is healthier for mother and baby and can save families hundreds of dollars during a child's first year.

We had a baby 3 months ago in a WHO-certified "Baby Friendly" hospital, which basically follows the same rules outlined for NYC hospitals.

The practical result of these rules? People who wanted to use formula still received it.

People who wanted to breastfeed, but had problems (like us) were able to get round-the-clock hands-on care, because almost every nurse was also a lactation consultant. If we hadn't had this help, chances are we'd be a 100% formula family, and our baby and our bank account would be poorer (as was the case for some friends at a formula-sponsored hospital).

When slow progress on breastfeeding led the doctor to require formula for our baby, we were given as much formula as we needed (and a few free bottles made it into the bag home).

But hey -- don't let reality get in the way finding an excuse to use a fashionable buzzword!

[Anonymous]

So wait—it isn't nannyish to serve as a conduit for unwanted and unneeded formula... but it is nannyish to not do so? The mind reels.

[Nehemiah Scudder]

It's "Nanny State"ish because it's backing a lefty/hippie/crunchy sort of thing. When public institutions act to _support_ the corporations God chartered, that's just acting in accord with the way things should be.