My Boobs My Choice

I know this is suppose to be a writing blog where I talk about writing but I just had to say something on the issue Mayor Bloomberg and his campaign to lock up baby formula in NYC hospitals and push breast feeding.  Under the new policy every time a woman ask for formula for her baby a nurse will have to sign out a bottle and explain to the mother why she should be breastfeeding instead.  So in short under Mayor Bloomberg new policy it’s easier to get a prescription for oxytocin than a bottle of formula in a hospital for your baby.  Add that to his attack on my 20 oz. dark roast coffee with two splenda and NYC just made the list of places I’ll visit but won’t live.  Now as a woman and as a mother I’m not only offended but also pissed off by this.  No matter where you stand on the issue every woman has the right to chose whether to breast or bottle feed and she doesn’t have to justify her reasons to anyone.  She should not be subjected to a lecture every time she asks for food to feed her child.  Like I said I am a mother of five and I would like to dispel a few myths about formula feed babies.  First they are just as smart as breastfed babies.  My kids are highly intelligent. They love to learn and read, and they are all creative and athletic.  I haven’t had one case of ear infection, or infant illnesses that bottle fed babies are supposedly at a higher risk of getting.  My children are not obese.  My bottles fed babies are happy, and healthy kids.  I have a deep connection to all of my children and they have a deep connection to me.  And even though I don’t have to explain why I chose to bottle-feed I would like to explain my reason for bottle-feeding.  My oldest who is now a 14 years old, 6’1’, size 15 shoe, 230lb offensive and defensive lineman for his high school drank 8 oz. bottles every two hours from the moment he was born.  Formula over breastfeeding made sense especially after the first couple of times I had to pry his mouth open to get the nipple out because he refused to let go.  My point is breastfeeding or bottle-feeding it’s a choice and the mother who breastfeed isn’t better than the mother who doesn’t. And shame on any woman who thinks she is she’s better and think she has the right to judge the mother who bottle feeds.  Instead of breastfeeding moms applauding him take a moment and look at the bigger picture Bloomberg  stepped on women’s rights and used the support of women to do it.