Article 3. Breast Feeding of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 106. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 3.
(a) The State Department of Public Health shall include in
its public service campaign the promotion of mothers breast-feeding
their infants.
(b) The department shall develop a model eight-hour training
course of hospital policies and recommendations that promote
exclusive breast-feeding, incorporating available materials already
developed by the department, and shall specify hospital staff for
whom this model training is appropriate. The department shall also
provide the model training materials to hospitals, upon request.
To the extent that non-United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) federal funds and private grants or donations are
made available for this purpose, the State Department of Public
Health shall, no later than July 1, 2008, begin expansion of the
breast-feeding peer counseling program at local agency California
Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC) sites. Plans for the expansion of the program shall take into
account local WIC agency program models that have demonstrated the
greatest improvement in breast-feeding rates, including exclusive
breast-feeding rates. Program expansion shall be contingent upon the
availability of non-USDA federal funds and private grants or
donations being made available for this purpose. Nothing in this
section shall impact USDA federal funding for the WIC Supplemental
Food Program or the breast-feeding peer counseling program at local
agency WIC sites.
(a) All general acute care hospitals, as defined in
subdivision (a) of Section 1250, and all special hospitals providing
maternity care, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 1250, shall
make available a breast feeding consultant or alternatively, provide
information to the mother on where to receive breast feeding
information.
(b) The consultant may be a registered nurse with maternal and
newborn care experience, if available.
(c) The consultation shall be made available during the
hospitalization associated with the delivery, or alternatively, the
hospital shall provide information to the mother on where to receive
breast feeding information.
(d) The patient may decline this consultation or information.
(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.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) "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.
(2) "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.
(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 evidence-based policies and
practices and targeted outcomes, or the Model Hospital Policy
Recommendations as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of
Section 123366.