Barb's take on the Breastfeeding Bill of rights

I just learned that New York State passed the Breastfeeding Bill of Rights. Wow!  There’s some great things in this bill which will help more moms breastfeed. We know that not enough moms get the information they need about breastfeeding before they deliver. This makes it so much harder to feed their baby when they are dealing with recovering from the birth and trying a new skill. I always encourage my patients to take breastfeeding classes in their 3rd trimester.
 
One thing that I’ve seen and has been reported on is the moms who aren’t able to  breast feed their babies exclusively because they need to return to work or for a variety of other reasons.  Because of this bill and others like it, many of these moms are not given enough information about how to find safe alternatives to breastfeeding if they aren’t able to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months. Some make their own formulas, some don’t mix up the formula correctly, which can have serious consequences for their babies.
 
Of course we want to help moms breastfeed, and we also want to help the moms who can’t get the information and support that they need.