Amended in Assembly June 18, 2013

Amended in Senate May 28, 2013

Senate Bill No. 402

Introduced by Senator De León

(Coauthor: Senator Pavley)

( begin delete Coauthor: end delete begin insert Coauthors: end insert Assembly begin delete Member end delete begin insert Members end insert Ammiano begin insert and Fox end insert )

February 20, 2013

An act to add Section 123367 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 402, as amended, De León. Breastfeeding.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2014, requires all general acute care hospitals and special hospitals that have a perinatal unit, as defined, to have an infant-feeding policy.

This bill would require all general acute care hospitals and special hospitals that have a perinatal unit to adopt, by January 1, 2025, the “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding,” as adopted by Baby-Friendly USA, per the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, or an alternate process adopted by a health care service plan that includes evidenced-based policies and practices and targeted outcomes, or the Model Hospital Policy Recommendations begin delete as revised by the department in 2012. end delete begin insert as defined. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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 (WHO), 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 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,
57 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 123367 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:

123367.  

(a) 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.

(b) All general acute care hospitals and special hospitals, as
defined in subdivisions (a) and (f) of Section 1250, that have a
perinatal unit shall, by January 1, 2025, adopt the “Ten Steps to
Successful Breastfeeding,” as adopted by Baby-Friendly USA, per
the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, or an alternate process
adopted by a health care service plan that includes evidenced-based
policies and practices and targeted outcomes, or the Model Hospital
Policy Recommendations begin delete as revised by the State Department of
Public Health in 2012. end delete begin insert as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision
(b) of Section 123366. end insert