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Mayor Michael Bloomberg is on a regulating roll. First he took on the size of soda people can drink  and now hw is targeting infant formula.

In May, the mayor's office launched it's "Latch on NYC" campaign to support mothers who breastfeed their infants by asking city maternity hospitals to voluntarily sign on to support a mother's choice to breastfeed and limit the promotion of infant formula in their facilities which can interfere with that decision. 

The campaign will go in effect on Sept. 3.

According to a release, 12 private New York City hospitals have made the commitment and all 11 public hospitals run by the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation also joined "Latch On NYC," going beyond the significant steps they previously took to support breastfeeding when they banned formula from gift bags and promotional materials in 2007. 

Hospitals joining Latch On NYC have agreed to enforce the New York State hospital regulation to not supplement breastfeeding infants with formula unless medically indicated and documented on the infant's medical chart, limit access to infant formula by hospital staff, discontinue the distribution of promotional or free  infant formula and prohibit the display and distribution of infant formula advertising or promotional materials in any hospital location. 

New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said human breast milk is best for babies and mothers. 

"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," Farley said. With this initiative the New York City health community is joining together to support mothers who choose to breastfeed."

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that moms exclusively breast-feed for the first six months of a newborn's life to boost protection against many illnesses and allergies.

Babies who are fed formula and stop breast-feeding early may be more at risk for diabetes, respiratory and ear infections and are more likely to require doctor visits, prescriptions or hospitalizations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children who aren't breast-fed are also more likely to be obese and are at a higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

The CDC says in the U.S., most babies start breast-feeding, but within the first week, half have already been given formula, and by 9 months, only 31 percent of babies are breast-feeding at all.

Ninety percent  of NYC mothers start breastfeeding. However, by the time the baby reaches two months, only 31% of NYC mothers are still exclusively breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby's life. Breastfed babies are much less likely than formula-fed babies to get ear, respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, and are also less likely to develop asthma. Breastfeeding is also beneficial to mothers -- women who breastfeed have a reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancers.