“Human breast milk is best for babies and mothers,” said Health Commissioner Thomas Farley in a press release about Latch on NYC. “When babies receive supplementary formula in the hospital or mothers receive promotional baby formula on hospital discharge it can impede the establishment of an adequate milk supply and can undermine women’s confidence in breastfeeding.”

While breastfeeding has been proven to benefit both mother and child, some dislike the notion of it being regulated by the government and question the wisdom of making exhausted new moms feel like they're being judged and criticized for their choices.

My oldest son was given formula immediately after birth due to a problem with his sugar levels. This would have still happened under the new regulations. With my other two children, however, I asked that the babies be kept in the nursery at night and given formula so that I could get some sleep, while I breastfed in the daytime. All three came home with me and proceeded to breastfeed with no problems for up to a year. In retrospect, I appreciate that my wishes were honored without discussion. I suspect that had someone been assigned to talk me out of my decision, I would have agreed to feed the babies at night, leaving me feeling even more beat than I already was.

If Latch on NYC had been in effect when you gave birth, do you think you would you have done things differently? Or are you expecting and worried this may impact your choices?