BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   SB 502|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 502
          Author:   Pavley (D) and De León (D), et al.
          Amended:  4/25/11
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE  :  5-1, 4/13/11
          AYES:  Hernandez, Alquist, De León, DeSaulnier, Rubio
          NOES:  Anderson
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Strickland, Blakeslee, Wolk

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8


           SUBJECT  :    Hospital Infant Feeding Act

           SOURCE  :     California WIC Association


           DIGEST  :    This bill establishes the Hospital Infant 
          Feeding Act which will require all general acute care and 
          special hospitals that have a perinatal unit to have an 
          infant-feeding policy and to clearly post that policy.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Establishes the Maternal Child and Adolescent Health 
             (MCAH) program, administered by the Department of Public 
             Health (DPH), which monitors and reports infant feeding 
             data. 

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          2. Requires DPH to recommend training for general acute 
             care hospitals and special hospitals that is intended to 
             improve breast-feeding rates among mothers and infants.

          3. Establishes, under MCAH, the program "Birth and Beyond 
             California" which utilizes quality improvement methods 
             and training to implement evidence-based policies and 
             practices that support breastfeeding within the 
             maternity care setting. 

          4. Establishes the Women, Infants and Children program 
             (WIC), administered by the DPH to provide nutritional 
             food supplements to low-income pregnant women, 
             low-income postpartum and lactating women, and 
             low-income infants and children under five years of age, 
             who have been determined to be at nutritional risk.

          5. Establishes the "Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program" 
             at local agency WIC sites to increase the rate of 
             breastfeeding for WIC participants.

          6. Establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the 
             Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), which 
             provides comprehensive health benefits to low-income 
             children, their parents or caretaker relatives, pregnant 
             women, elderly, blind or disabled persons, and nursing 
             home residents who meet specified eligibility criteria.

          7. Covers, as part of the Medi-Cal durable medical 
             equipment (DME) benefit, the rental or purchase of 
             breast pumps for pregnant and postpartum women, subject 
             to medical necessity.

          8. Defines a general acute care hospital as a health 
             facility having a duly constituted governing body with 
             overall administrative and professional responsibility 
             and an organized medical staff that provides 24-hour 
             inpatient care, including the following basic services: 
             medical, nursing, surgical, anesthesia, laboratory, 
             radiology, pharmacy, and dietary services.

          9. Defines special hospitals as a health facility having a 
             duly constituted governing body with overall 
             administrative and professional responsibility and an 

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             organized medical or dental staff that provides 
             inpatient or outpatient care in dentistry or maternity.

          This bill:

          1. Makes several legislative declarations, including a 
             declaration that 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.  

          2. Establishes the Hospital Infant Feeding Act.

          3. Requires all general acute care hospitals and special 
             hospitals that have a perinatal unit to have an 
             infant-feeding policy and to clearly post that policy.

          4. Provides that the infant-feeding policy may include 
             guidelines provided by the Baby-Friendly Hospital 
             Initiative or the State Department of Public Health 
             Model Hospital Policy recommendations.

          5. Requires the infant-feeding policy be routinely 
             communicated to all perinatal staff.

          6. Requires the infant-feeding policy apply to all infants 
             in the perinatal unit.

          7. Defines "perinatal unit" to be 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.

          8. Defines "Baby-Friendly Hospitals" to be facilities that 
             have been awarded accreditation by Baby-Friendly USA, 
             the national authority for the Baby-Friendly Hospital 
             Initiative sponsored by the World Health Organization 
             and the United Nations Children's Fund.

          9. Defines "Model Hospital Policy Recommendations" to be 
             the most recently updated guidelines approved and 
             published by DPH entitled, "Providing Breastfeeding 

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             Support: Model Hospital Policy Recommendations."

          10.Takes effect January 1, 2014.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  5/2/11)

          California WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Association 
          (source)
          American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, 
            District IX (California)
          Antelope Valley Hospital WIC Program
          American Red Cross WIC Program
          Babies First Breastfeeding Task Force Fresno County
          Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles
          Butte County WIC
          California Breastfeeding Coalition
          California Center for Rural Policy
          California Food Policy Advocates
          Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
          Community Medical Centers, Inc.
          County of Napa WIC Program
          First 5 Fresno County
          First 5 LA
          Kern County Breastfeeding Coalition
          Monterey County Coalition Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies
          Mono County WIC
          Native American Heath Center WIC Program
          Northeast Valley Health Corporation
          Orange County Breastfeeding Coalition
          Planned Parenthood WIC
          Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc. WIC Program
          Sacred Birth Services
          San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition
          Solano County Health and Social Services WIC Program
          Tulare County Breastfeeding Coalition

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    Supporters contend that many 
          mothers have every intention of providing their baby the 
          best by having the desire to breastfeed.  However, many 
          hospitals unfortunately do not provide sufficient training 
          to their staff nor have in place policies that support 

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          their patients'  desire to breastfeed successfully.   

          The California WIC Association, the bill's sponsor, writes 
          that this is a modest approach to help increase the 
          exclusive breastfeeding rates in California hospitals while 
          giving the maternity hospitals a reasonable amount of time 
          to develop their infant feeding policies and educate their 
          perinatal unit staff.


          CTW:mw  5/2/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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