NY Regulations to Promote Breastfeeding

 

ALBANY -- New York will install regulations next year to encourage new mothers to breastfeed.

The state Health Department on Wednesday said the new regulations will help mothers in the state's 126 birthing hospitals to begin breastfeeding right after babies are born.

Hospitals will be required, unless there is a medical reason otherwise, to place newborns with their mothers immediately after delivery.

The goal, the state said, is that skin-to-skin contact between infants and their mothers lead to better breathing and heart rates in the newborn and allows for a greater chance of breastfeeding.

“The amended regulations help ensure that we provide the support and encouragement new mothers need to breastfeed their babies and continue to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months,” Howard Zucker, commissioner of health, said in a statement.

New York's breastfeeding rates are well below the national target, the health department said.

In New York, 44 percent of newborns in New York are breastfed within the first few days of life, compared to the national target of 70 percent, the agency said. 

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Source: WGRZ.com (via The Empire Report)