Bloomberg Thinks Breastfeeding Is The <em>Breast</em> For New York's Newborns, Launches WHO Initiative

A new program being pushed by Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Department of Health will try to convince city moms that breastfeeding is the, ahem, breast way to feed New York's newborns.

The "Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative" will help hospitals educate mothers on the benefits of breastfeeding over baby formula, CBS reports.

“We do not give out gift bags of formula, we do not encourage its use,” said Karen Goodman, nurse manager at NYU Langone Medical Center, one of the first hospitals to take part in the initiative, which Bloomberg and the DOH hopes will spread to at least 24 other hospitals.

“The benefits of breast feeding to infants, mothers and society are well established . . . " reads the DOH proposal to the city, according to The New York Post. "Specifically, infants exclusively breast fed for at least six months have a 22 percent reduction in risk for childhood obesity.”

(And we all know how much Bloomberg hates obesity. See: sodas, salts and transfats. And don't even get him started on smoking.)

The program is sponsored by the World Health Organization, which encourages moms to breastfeed for six months. Hospitals partaking in the program will be required to implement a 10-step program to increase breastfeeding.

And not everyone's a fan.

“I think it’s a woman’s decision, but I don’t think nobody is supposed to push anything like that,” Alin Leeve told CBS.

But if Bloomberg's has any problems promoting the program, he could always enlist the help of former Blossom star Mayim Bialik, who breastfeeds her 3-year-old on the subway, or he could just put up this leaked Oreo ad concept all over New York (NSFW):