Breast-feeding debate heats up in Massachusetts

When it comes to breast-feeding, do mothers really know best?

Officials are facing that question in Massachusetts, which is debating whether to become the first U.S. state to ban hospitals from handing out free samples of infant formula, provided by formula companies, to new mothers.

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 that it announced in December and set to take effect in July.

The council, which is part of the state’s health agency, voted on Tuesday to suspend the ban and study the issue for three months. They will decide in May whether or not to go ahead with the ban.

Medical studies show breast-feeding lowers the risk and severity of ear infections, diarrhea and bacterial meningitis in babies, and may help to protect against crib death, diabetes, obesity and asthma.

Women who nurse are also found to have lower rates of breast and ovarian cancer.

Backers of the ban say the formula gift bags discourage new mothers from breast-feeding. Formula manufacturers call the ban unnecessary and doubt ending the decades-old custom would lead to a rise in the number of mothers who breast-feed.

Romney, who is weighing a bid for the White House in 2008, said mothers know what’s best for their babies, not lawmakers, and women can decide whether to use the gifts.

“I’m not enthusiastic about the heavy arm of government coming in and saying: ‘We think we know better than mothers, and we are going to decide for you,’” he told reporters.

Typically, a new mother receives the brand-name formula with coupons for more before leaving the hospital.

About 70 percent of U.S. women breast-fed at least once after bearing a child in 2003, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of those breast-feeding exclusively is about 62 percent seven days after birth, but falls to 14 percent at six months.

“We don’t feel it is a good public health policy to give them out,” said Anne Merewood, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. “New mothers are a vulnerable group and this is pure marketing.

“These are brand name products from the hospital. It looks like the hospital is endorsing it. It’s like putting Pepsi-Cola machines in the schools,” she said.

RELATED STORIES:
Breast Reconstruction Varies by Race   Researchers Identify Key Gene That May Be a Marker of Breast Cancer Metastasis   Breast self-exams do not appear to reduce breast cancer deaths   Long-term tamoxifen use increases risk of an aggressive, hard to treat type of second breast cancer   Surviving breast cancer ‘is not enough,’ warns Breast Cancer Campaign   NSAIDs could help prevent, treat breast cancer   Breast cancer returns more often in black women   Women at risk of breast cancer decline tamoxifen   Passive smoking is breast cancer risk factor   Weekly dose of osteoporosis drug prevents bone loss after breast cancer treatment   Breast Cancer Risk Found High After Chest Radiation for Hodgkin’s   Black women in Chicago more likely to die from breast cancer than white women   UK breast screening information has serious shortcomings   Black women at risk of deadly breast cancer type   Childhood Cancer Survivors Show Inadequate Screening for Breast Cancer   Racial disparities seen in male breast cancer survival   Iressa Shows Promise For Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer When Combined With Hormonal Therapy   Breast cancer gene tests backlog   Study examines risk factors for cancer in unaffected breast of breast cancer patients   Falling breast cancer rates seen only in whites   Early Xeloda does not help in breast cancer- study   Racial Disparities Exist in Radiation Therapy Rates For Early Stage Breast Cancer

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]