BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 502
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 502 (Pavley and De León)
As Amended August 15, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :30-6
HEALTH 14-5 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Monning, Ammiano, Atkins, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Bonilla, Eng, Gordon, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Hayashi, | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| |Roger Hernández, Bonnie | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| |Lowenthal, Mitchell, Pan, | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| |V. Manuel Pérez, Smyth, | | |
| |Williams | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Logue, Garrick, Mansoor, |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| |Nestande, | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| |Silva | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Effective January 1, 2014, 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, as specified, to clearly post the policy
and routinely communicate the policy to perinatal unit staff.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "perinatal unit" as 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)Requires the infant-feeding policy to promote breastfeeding
using guidance provided by the Baby-Friendly Hospital
Initiative (BFHI) or the Department of Public Health (DPH)
Model Hospital Policy Recommendations.
3)Permits the infant-feeding policy to include guidance on
formula supplementation or bottle-feeding if preferred by the
mother or when exclusive breastfeeding is contraindicated.
SB 502
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4)Requires the infant-feeding policy to be applicable to all
infants in a perinatal unit, to be routinely communicated to
perinatal unit staff, beginning with hospital orientation and
to be clearly posted on the hospital or health system Web
site.
5)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding
recommendations for breastfeeding by the United States Surgeon
General and other major health organizations, such as the
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and specifies that the
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 and that 34 hospitals
in California have received Baby Friendly USA accreditation.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, any costs associated with this legislation would be
minor and absorbable within existing resources.
COMMENTS : According to the author, the intent of this bill is
to establish infant-feeding programs in all California hospitals
that provide maternity and delivery services. The author states
that a growing body of evidence indicates that early
infant-feeding practices can affect later growth and development
in children, while significantly reducing their risk for
infections and chronic disease such as diabetes, asthma, and
obesity. The author argues that even though existing
regulations require general acute care hospitals to have a
written breastfeeding policy many do not have infant-feeding
policies in place. For example, according to information
gathered by California WIC Association (CWA), 14 out of the 22
lowest performing hospitals, those with the highest formula
supplementation rates, do not have a breastfeeding policy. The
author further states that the goal of this bill is to provide
hospitals with guidance on infant-feeding policies that address
both breastfeeding and proper bottle feeding. The author
contends that this bill is a modest approach that will help
increase the exclusive breastfeeding rates in California
hospitals and update current regulations while giving the
hospitals a reasonable amount of time to develop their
infant-feeding policies and to educate their perinatal unit
staff.
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According to a report, "One Hospital at a Time", produced by CWA
and the University of California Davis Human Lactation Center,
nearly 90% of California mothers enter the hospital intending to
breastfeed and that hospital policies can play a pivotal role in
whether they are successful. The report states that hospital
practices can discourage or prevent mothers from carrying out
that decision by failing to provide skilled support, separating
mothers from their babies, delaying the first feeding, or
routinely providing formula supplementation even for infants
whose mothers intend to breastfeed exclusively. The United
States Surgeon General and major health organizations, such as
the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), recommend exclusive
breastfeeding for most babies for the first six months of life.
A 2010 Harvard study found that the United States would save $13
billion per year if 90% of infants were breastfed exclusively
for six months.
This bill requires the hospital infant-feeding policy to utilize
either the BFHI or the DPH Model Hospital Policy
Recommendations. Launched in 1991, the BFHI is a global program
sponsored by the WHO and UNICEF to encourage and recognize
hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of
care for infant-feeding. According to the sponsors, CWA,
Baby-Friendly USA is the national body which provides
accreditation for BFHI in the United States. Hospitals adopt a
set of breastfeeding policies and pay a fee to become certified
as a Baby-Friendly Hospital. Baby-Friendly USA sends their
staff out to the hospitals to provide technical assistance, to
certify the facilities, as well as to provide ongoing monitoring
to maintain hospital certification.
"Model Hospital Policy Recommendations" are the guidelines
developed by the Inland Empire Breastfeeding Coalition and
approved and provided to hospitals as another resource to improve
breastfeeding policies by the DPH. The official guidelines,
which are approved and published by DPH, are entitled, "Providing
Breastfeeding Support: Model Hospital Policy Recommendations."
These policies do not include a certification process, fee or
oversight.
Both policies include extensive additional instructions,
narrative, references and guidelines to assist hospitals and
staff in interpreting and applying these guidelines.
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Analysis Prepared by : Marjorie Swartz/ HEALTH / (916)
319-2097 FN: 0001965