California Celebrates World Breastfeeding Week with Call to Action

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 1, 2015

CONTACT: Robbie Gonzalez-Dow 831-917-8939 [email protected]

[Your contact information]

CALIFORNIA CELEBRATES WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK WITH CALL TO ACTION

What we feed babies in the first days and months of life have long-term consequences. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months is the best way to reduce acute and chronic health conditions, however too many mothers lack the support they need to breastfeed to health care recommendations. Support for breastfeeding mothers is still lacking in three critical areas: Health plans, health providers and employers. California has taken steps to remedy this situation and leads the nation in providing public policies that support breastfeeding mothers. During August’s World Breastfeeding Week celebration, the California Breastfeeding Coalition calls on our communities to remove barriers to breastfeeding by informing women of their rights under California laws to breastfeed their babies. Sponsored by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), this years’ World Breastfeeding Week theme is Let’s Make It Work, a campaign which aims to empower and support ALL women, working in both the formal and informal sectors.

“California’s public policies provide a system of support that can help moms to breastfeed. For example, our lactation accommodation law was found to increase the odds of a baby being breastfed at birth by 225% and an increased odds of 102% at 6 months, simply because of its enforcement provision” states Robbie Gonzalez-Dow, the executive director of the California Breastfeeding Coalition. “Coupled with California’s Paid Family Leave program and our progressive pregnancy disability laws, California provides a form of maternity leave that the rest of the nation is lacking. We enjoy better health and breastfeeding rates in California because our public policies help us be healthier.” [insert short paragraph about local support] However, too many mothers lack the education they need to utilize these public policies, especially their workplace rights. A recent field poll showed that awareness of California’s Paid Family Leave law had dropped to just 36% of the voting public. California’s Paid Family Leave law was found to help double the median duration of breastfeeding, even in low wage employees. Only about 25% of California mothers who begin breastfeeding are still exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months. This dramatic drop demonstrates the role workplace support plays in helping women to meet their health care goals. Many mothers are afraid to assert their rights to a lactation accommodation. Robbie Gonzalez Dow states, “Weekly I get calls from mothers who fear the consequences for speaking up about their lactation accommodation needs to their employer. This can be a major obstacle for mothers who want to breastfeed, so much so, that many don’t start to breastfeed or only do so for a short period of time.” Under the Affordable Care Act, all health plans must provide breastfeeding supports, supplies and counseling, at no cost to mothers. In California and across the nation there is wide variability in how health plans are implementing this provision. A recent report from the National Women’s Law Center found that women are experiencing significant barriers to accessing breastfeeding support through their health plans. Some of the barriers are administrative, lack of access to providers with the expertise to support breastfeeding or the health plans impose limitations and restrictions to the benefit in violation of the Affordable Care Act. California health plans should publish their policy and make information on their coverage for breastfeeding support, supplies and counseling accessible so that breastfeeding mothers can easily access this coverage. California leads the nation with 30% of the birthing hospitals designated as Baby-FriendlyTM. SB 402 is legislation that requires all California birthing hospitals to achieve the Baby-FriendlyTM designation or a similar process by 2025. The movement towards Baby-FriendlyTM hospitals calls for better support for breastfeeding from our community health providers, many of whom lack the knowledge on how to deliver breastfeeding support, services and supplies. It isn’t enough to give a mother a breast pump. She must be supported to breastfeed with skilled clinicians, educated in how to evaluate and manage breastfeeding. Lastly, employers play a large role in supporting employed mothers to breastfeed. With California’s strong public policy, all employers should understand that directing a mother to use a restroom to pump is unlawful. Yet, a recent survey of California Human Resource professionals found that 13% still think a bathroom is an acceptable location for pumping. To support employers in implementing this provision of the law, the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health has published a comprehensive database entitled, Supporting Nursing Moms at Work: Employer solutions, which features more than 200 businesses from 22 business sectors, from Agriculture, Mining, Education and Health Care. Former US Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin states in the 2011 “Call To Action To Support Breastfeeding”, “Everyone can help make breastfeeding easier.” In California we need more health plans, health providers and employers to support women to breastfeed.

-more- For more information visit the following websites:

California Breastfeeding Coalition website at www.californiabreastfeeding.org

California Department of Public Health: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/healthyliving/childfamily/Pages/GoingBacktoWorkorSchoo l.aspx

Office Women’s Health, US Department of Health and Human Services: http://womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/employer-solutions/index.html?from=AtoZ

Office on Women’s Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, “Supporting Nursing Moms At Work: Employer Solutions”: http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/employer-solutions/

US Surgeon General’s Call To Action To Support Breastfeeding: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calls/breastfeeding/executivesummary.pdf

Paid Family Leave: http://paidfamilyleave.org

[your coalition name – insert link] # # #