New York City hospitals to start limiting baby formula

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is getting some backing for his campaign to help promote breastfeeding.

The mayor has received some flak over a new city policy, taking effect in September and reported in Sunday's New York Post, that discourages baby formula from being used in hospitals. While some are chiding the mayor for imposing a "nanny state," The National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy says it's a good program.

The Alliance's executive director says keeping baby formula under lock and key, like medicines are kept, helps prevent hospital staffers from reaching for a bottle first, instead of encouraging new mothers to nurse their babies.

New York City's program called Latch On NYC is voluntary for hospitals, and is part of a nationwide effort to improve newborns' health by promoting breastfeeding for babies.

Mothers who insist on bottle-feeding will be able to do so, but nurses would have to sign out the baby formula, which would always be onhand for mothers who have difficulty breastfeeding.