In a move that’s sure to add fuel to the great breast vs. formula debate, the New York City Health Department will soon launch a new breastfeeding initiative that will affect new mothers city-wide. Beginning Sept. 3, the voluntary “Latch On NYC” program will allow maternity hospitals to lock away infant formula for the better good of breastfeeding.

What exactly will this mean for new moms? To start, you won’t see promotions or advertisements for formula brands at your hospital. City officials hope that eliminating ads will let women decide which form of feeding is best for baby without being influenced by advertising. Those who choose the bottle route — whether due to personal preference or breastfeeding difficulties — will only be able to get formula after a nurse has properly signed the food out.

This isn’t the first step taken by health officials to make formula less prominent in hospitals. In 2007, hospitals started to ban formula from gift bags. Lanyards and mugs with formula brands’ logos were also prohibited. Today, 27 of the city’s 40 hospitals participate in the ban. Massachusetts health officials followed suit earlier this month after putting a stop to free formula giveaways throughout the state’s 49 hospitals.

The push away from the bottle was made by NYC Health Commissioner Thomas Farley after studying the benefits of breast milk. “Human breast milk is best for babies and mothers,” said Farley. “When babies receive supplementary formula…it can impede the establishment of an adequate milk supply and can undermine women’s confidence in breastfeeding.”

American Academy of Pediatrics agrees, recommending mothers breastfeed exclusively for their baby’s first six months and continuing to breastfeed for at least the first year. The Greater New York Hospital Association says that while ninety percent of NYC moms start breastfeeding immediately after giving birth, that number shrinks to thirty-one percent two months later.

Do you think banning free formula samples and locking away formula at hospitals can help promote breastfeeding? Or do you think these new rules are excessive?

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Between the grueling training sessions and never-ending travel, it seems the the professional life of an Olympic athlete is anything but easy. But imagine how much harder you’d have to work for that gold medal around your neck if there was a diaper bag on your arm. While watching the London games this week, we couldn’t help but wonder how many female athletes work double-duty as moms. From high-jumpers and hurdlers to goal kickers and track stars, we were happily surprised to see just how many mothers are representing Team USA. Whether you’re in need of some motivation or you simply can’t get enough of this year’s games–check out our list of mighty moms who are going for gold.

Plus, more from The Bump:

How Olympian Moms Got Fit After Baby

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Did you know you might get a fever during labor? In the past, it’s been suggested that epidural analgesia (the pain meds) is what causes laboring moms to burn up, but a new study in the August issue of Anesthesiology provides some surprising insight into the cause of maternal intrapartum fever (MIF).

University of Alabama researchers studied 81 women in induced labor to monitor the possible development of MIF. Seventy-eight women received epidural analgesia and their maternal temperatures were recorded before and after the drug was administered. Roughly only half of those recorded showed an increase in temperature, leading researchers to believe that an epidural has no effect on maternal fever. However, findings did show that those women who experienced an increase in maternal temperatures had a higher body mass index and prolonged delivery.

Did you get (or are you getting) an epidural? Would you recommended it to other moms?

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Tricks to Make Labor Easier

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Expectant moms can become impatient during the nine month wait to meet their newborn, but imagine if you spent twenty-six weeks (that’s 182 days!) of your pregnancy on bed rest. That’s what happened to Stephanie Johnson in late 2010 when her doctor ordered immediate and prolonged bed rest after complications with her first pregnancy. “My life stopped when everyone else’s continued,” said Johnson in a recent interview with Bethenny Frankel. That left her  brainstorming proactive solutions for other pregnant women in similar circumstances.

Enter Bed Rest Concierge. A mere three months after giving birth to her daughter Harlow in March of 2011, Stephanie started her business — a resource for resting moms in need of motivation and support. The focus, she claims, is to help women “have a beautiful and joyful pregnancy while preparing for their new arrival.”

Johnson and her team offer a variety of pre-delivery services including nursery design, baby shower planning and laundry service. (A mobile pampering team can come to you to give you a pedicure!) That’s just the beginning. Post-delivery services include mommy-and-me activities, errands and childcare referrals. And if cooking isn’t your thing, Bed Rest Concierge can even teach you how to make your own baby food.

We love that Stephanie had the guts to start a business so soon after having her first child! Plus, the Bed Rest Concierge team is sure to make life a little bit easier for expecting moms. We even hear they deliver late night ice cream!

What was your bed rest experience like? Would you use a bed rest concierge?

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Bored With Bed Rest?

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How To Reduce Those Pregnancy Aches and Pains

Sure, you occasionally daydream about the monetary benefits of being a Beverly Hills housewife, but have you ever considered the personal lives of the nannies who care for their kids? In what’s sure to be our newest guilty pleasure, ABC Family recently premiered Beverly Hills Nannies — a reality show chronicling the perks of being a permanent babysitter — and the newest episode airs tonight.

The (unscripted?) series attempts to unveil the lives of high-paid nannies in California’s most prestigious zip code. And if you thought your professional life was tough, you won’t believe what’s in the job description for these caretakers.

We’ll be following the antics of Justin Sylvester — a self-proclaimed “Ladysitter.” Justin does everything from organizing breast milk to massaging feet. He also has a hilarious knack for reinterpreting well-known nursery rhymes (our favorite is “The Itsy Bitsy Chihuahua”).

Check out Beverly Hills Nannies Wednesday nights at 9/8 central and discuss with us!

What are your thoughts on the new show? Do you have any hilarious nanny or babysitter stories?

Plus, more from The Bump:

How I Knew My Nanny Was The One

How To Find a Good Nanny

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Not only is Uma Thurman a tough-hitting action star, but the Kill Bill actress is now a mother of three!

The Smash star and her French financier beau, Arpad Busson, welcomed a baby girl on Sunday, July 15. Although their daughter’s name hasn’t been released yet, a source confirmed the baby girl’s arrival, stating that mom and baby are both doing well, to US Weekly.

The news came as a happy surprise in February when Uma announced the unexpected pregnancy with her on-again-boyfriend. The two began dating in 2007 and shared the news of their engagement in 2009. Later that year, however, the duo called it off only to reunite again in 2011.

This will be the third child for Uma, who has two teenagers — Maya, 13 and Levon, 10 — with ex-husband Ethan Hawke. Arpad has two sons — Arpad, 14 and Aurelius, 9 — whose mother is former supermodel Elle Macpherson.

Word is, the couple celebrated Uma’s pregnancy in May with a pink elephant themed baby shower in New York City (which gives us even more adorable shower ideas!). We’re so excited for the couple and can’t wait to find out the baby’s name!

What theme did you go with for your baby shower?

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Any parent with a colicky baby will tell you that dealing with colic is heartbreaking, aggravating and, well, pretty much your worst nightmare. Thankfully, a recent study shed some light on a possible cause of colic among newborns.

Researcher Dr. Abdelrazak Mansour Ali from Cairo studied 55 infants of varying age, sex and ethnicity that showed symptoms of colic. Of those chosen, 45 babies (81.8%) tested positive for Helicobacter pylori — a type of bacteria found in their stomachs. This bacterium can cause stomach discomfort, cramping and ulcers (ouch!). Dr. Ali noted that these infections may be considered the “etiologic pathogenic organism of infantile colic,” meaning there may be a legitimate cause of baby’s discomfort — it’s not “just crying.” Now if only researchers could fine a definitive cure!

Even though baby can’t communicate what’s wrong, there are some possible treatments to ease his pain. Dr. Ali recommends a daily dose of a probiotic to stimulate your baby’s stomach — but discuss any treatment or medication with your doctor before giving it to baby.

How did you deal with your baby’s colic? What do you recommend for other moms?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Why Is Baby Crying?

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Calming a Colicky Baby

In news that’s sure to excite your partner, a psychologist is theorizing that the cause of — and cure for — morning sickness is none other than your baby’s father. More specifically, his semen.

According to Slate, Gordon Gallup of SUNY-Albany Gallup argues that since half of a baby’s genetic makeup belongs to its father, it’s possible that a woman’s body treats that DNA as a foreign substance. So the mother experiences an immune reaction that involves vomiting and nausea, the same way it would if you caught a virus. Luckily, Gallup feels that the cause and the cure are both one and the same: (you guessed it) semen.

Although the theory has yet to be tested (read: nowhere near proven), Gallup speculates that to prevent symptoms of nausea during the first trimester, a woman should frequently expose herself to her partner’s semen in order to develop a higher tolerance to his genetic makeup. In other words, the more often a woman is inseminated leading up to and during pregnancy (he’s talking regular sex and oral), the less sick she’ll feel.

We had a good laugh about this theory — and are wondering if Gallup has a wife who’s now in the early stages of pregnancy — but there are plans to actually study it. Plus, there are more interesting tidbits:

Gallup says that a woman’s reaction to her mate’s DNA is a maternal adaptation that favors the best potential suitor. So we should interpret hugging the toilet bowl as a sign that we chose the wrong husband?

He also says that women with little to no sexual contact or those who use condoms are more susceptible to feeling queasy. And also predicts that women with two or more children should experience lessened symptoms of morning sickness with each consecutive pregnancy.

Of course, we’ve got to wonder, if you’re feeling really sick, how you’re going to get into the mood. But if you’re desperate to feel better, a roll in the hay might be worth a shot. Of course, we’ll remain skeptical until we see the results of Gallup’s study.

How was your experience with morning sickness? What do you think of this theory?

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Foods That Ease Morning Sickness

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Sick of Being Sick

Do you tote antibacterial wipes in your diaper bag? A new study may convince you to swap out the sanitizer for a house pet.

In the Finnish study, published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers studied nearly 400 babies from birth throughout their first year. They focused on the respiratory health of the infants in relation to their contact with cats and dogs. Turns out, Fido can offer health benefits.

Not only did the babies who live with dogs have fewer instances of respiratory tract symptoms and infections than babies without pets did, but they also needed fewer courses of antibiotics and experienced less ear infections and runny noses. Cats weren’t proven to significantly affect the babies’ health.

“These results suggest that dog contacts may have a protective effect on respiratory tract infections during the first year of life,” wrote researcher Eija Bergroth of Kuopio University Hospital in Finland, in the study’s conclusion.

It’s not the pets themselves that help baby’s health — it’s the dirt and grime they track around the house (yup, a little messiness is good for your kid!). Researchers suggest that children exposed to germs develop stronger immune systems, making them better equipped to defend against bacteria and respiratory infections.

Do you have a dog or cat? Do you think it’s beneficial to your baby to have a pet?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Should You Get Your Kid a Pet?

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With all of the talk surrounding the birth of Penelope Scotland — the latest addition to the Kardashian-Disick clan — we couldn’t help but be intrigued by the newborn’s unusual name. Let’s face it: it isn’t too often you encounter a Penelope, let alone a Scotland (which we can only assume is after her father, Scott Disick). In fact, the first name seems to be one that you find almost exclusively in fairy-tales and SNL characters. Either way, we can’t get enough of the quirky moniker!

What it means:
The Greek name was first seen in Homer’s The Odyssey and stands for loyalty. It also means “with a web over her face”. How mysterious!

How (un)common is it?:
The name ranks unsurprisingly low on the Social Security Administration’s Top Baby Names List. In fact, Penelope came in 169th in 2011 followed by Jenna and Ashlyn.

Well-known Penelopes:
Aside from the most obvious Penelope — Cruz, that is — the name is hard to find! There’s the movie Penelope, where Christina Ricci plays a really cute girl with a pig nose, and there’s a Simpsons character named Princess Penelope. Another one of our favorite Penelopes is also a fictional character: a desperate-to-impress mouthy thirty-something played by Kristen Wiig on SNL. So it’s kind of nice to welcome a new, real-life Penelope into the world.

What do you think of the name Penelope? Do you prefer uncommon baby names or common ones?

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