BILL NUMBER: SB 502	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  511
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 6, 2011
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 6, 2011
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 30, 2011
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 29, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 15, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 29, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 15, 2011
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 25, 2011
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 24, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Pavley and De León
   (Coauthor: Senator Alquist)

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to add Section 123366 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to public health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 502, Pavley. Hospital Infant Feeding Act.
   Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health
facilities, including hospitals, by the State Department of Public
Health. Existing law requires all general acute care hospitals and
special hospitals providing maternity care to make available a
breastfeeding consultant, or alternatively, to provide information to
the mother on where to receive breastfeeding information.
   This bill would require all general acute care hospitals and
special hospitals that have perinatal units, as defined, to have an
infant-feeding policy and to clearly post that policy in the
perinatal unit or on the hospital or health system Internet Web site.
This bill would require that the infant-feeding policy be routinely
communicated to perinatal unit staff and that the infant-feeding
policy apply to all infants in a perinatal unit. This bill would
become operative January 1, 2014.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) A growing body of evidence indicates that early infant-feeding
practices can affect later growth and development, particularly with
regard to obesity.
   (b) The United States Surgeon General, and all the major health
organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the
World Health Organization, recommend exclusive breastfeeding for most
babies, unless specifically contraindicated, for the first six
months and continued breastfeeding with the addition of appropriate
foods up to at least one year of age.
   (c) The United States Healthy People 2020 goals for breastfeeding
set new targets for decreased formula supplementation within the
first two days of life and increased number of births in facilities
that provide recommended lactation care.
   (d) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitor
hospital practices at the state and national level with the
Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) survey.
Whereas mPINC benchmarks suggest that 10 percent or fewer of
breastfeeding infants should receive supplemental formula, fewer than
10 percent of California hospitals reach that goal.
   (e) The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global
program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to encourage and recognize
hospitals that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding.
Baby-Friendly USA is the national authority for the BFHI in the
United States. To date, 34 hospitals in California have received
Baby-Friendly USA accreditation.
   (f) In April 2010, the Joint Commission, the accreditation
organization for hospitals, began including exclusive breastfeeding
rates as part of its perinatal care core evaluation indicators for
maternity hospitals.
  SEC. 2.  Section 123366 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   123366.  (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Hospital Infant Feeding Act.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions
shall apply:
   (1) "Perinatal unit" means a maternity and newborn service of the
hospital for the provision of care during pregnancy, labor, delivery,
and postpartum and neonatal periods with appropriate staff, space,
equipment, and supplies.
   (2) "Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative" means the program
sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) that recognizes hospitals that offer
an optimal level of care for infant feeding.
   (3) "Model Hospital Policy Recommendations" means the most
recently updated guidelines approved and published by the State
Department of Public Health entitled, "Providing Breastfeeding
Support: Model Hospital Policy Recommendations."
   (c) All general acute care hospitals and special hospitals, as
defined in subdivisions (a) and (f) of Section 1250, that have a
perinatal unit shall have an infant-feeding policy. The
infant-feeding policy shall promote breastfeeding, utilizing guidance
provided by the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative or the State
Department of Public Health Model Hospital Policy Recommendations.
The infant-feeding policy may include guidance on formula
supplementation or bottlefeeding, if preferred by the mother or when
exclusive breastfeeding is contraindicated for the mother or infant.
   (d) The infant-feeding policy shall be routinely communicated to
perinatal unit staff, beginning with hospital orientation, and shall
be clearly posted in the perinatal unit or on the hospital or health
system Internet Web site.
   (e) The infant-feeding policy shall apply to all infants in a
perinatal unit.
   (f) This section shall become operative January 1, 2014.