BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 502|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 502
Author: Pavley (D) and De Le�n (D), et al.
Amended: 4/25/11
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 5-1, 4/13/11
AYES: Hernandez, Alquist, De Le�n, 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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