Federal Appropriations for Breastfeeding

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Each year funding is allocated to a variety of federally funded programs that include breastfeeding support through the federal appropriations process. Appropriations for breastfeeding have helped build and strengthen critical programs and initiatives to improve maternity care practices, increase access to peer & professional support, ensure continuity of breastfeeding care, increase support for breastfeeding employees, and address disparities in breastfeeding rates. Funding relevant to the breastfeeding field are primarily included in the Labor-HHS and Agriculture appropriations bills.

Historic Funding Levels for the Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding Program

FY2023: $9.75M
FY2022: $9.75M
FY2021: $9.5M
FY2020: $9M
FY2019: $8M
FY2018: $8M

FY2017: $8M
FY2016: $8M
FY2015: $8M
FY2014: 8M
FY2013: $2.5M
FY2012: $7M

FY 2024 Appropriations: Current Status and What it Means for the Lactation Field

The Office of Management and Budget has released the "Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2024." The report contains the Budget Message of the President for Fiscal Year 2024, information on the President's priorities, and summary tables.
View the OMB President's Budget and Budget Appendix webpages for details. Complete HHS budget information, including agency budget justifications, can be found on the HHS budget webpage. A detailed analysis of the funded provisions in these reports are included in the following chart.

View the Congressional Research Service Appropriations Status Table to access the appropriations bills and status.

	Connection to Infant Feeding	*FY2023 Enacted*	FY2024 President's Budget	FY2024 House Bill	FY2024 Senate Bill	FY2024 Enacted
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding	Funding for this program comes from the Prevention and Public Health Fund to support breastfeeding families in maternity care settings, communities, and workplaces.	$9.75M	$9.75M	-	$9.75M	-
Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health	The REACH program works to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities through local, culturally appropriate programs, including breastfeeding support programs.	$68.95M	$68.95M	-	$68.95M	-
Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country	The GHWIC program includes increased breastfeeding as a long-term goal.	$24M	$24M	-	$24M	-
Safe Motherhood and Infant Health	Breastfeeding is included in the Perinatal Quality Collaboratives and Substance Abuse During Pregnancy programs within the SMIH program.	$108M	$164M	-	$110.5M	-
National Early Child Care Collaboratives	Through the NECCC program, CDC funds, trains, and assists in obesity prevention efforts in early childhood education (ECE) settings based on the Spectrum of Opportunities guiding framework which outlines how states can embed obesity prevention standards to ensure healthy eating, breastfeeding support, and physical activity.	$5M	$5M	-	$5M	-
Health Resources and Service Administration
Maternal and Child Health Block Grant	Breastfeeding is included in the MCH Block Grant National Performance Measures.	$822.7M	$937.3M	-	$822.7M	-
Healthy Start	The Healthy Start program implements community-based interventions to improve the health of mothers and children, including breastfeeding education.	$145M	$185M	-	$145M	-
Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies	RMOMS supports grants to improve access to and continuity of maternal and obstetrics care in rural communities by increasing the delivery of and access to preconception, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum services, including breastfeeding support.	$8M	$10.4M	-	$8M	-
National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Initiative	The IMPROVE initiative supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths and improve health for women before, during, and after delivery.	$43.4M	$30M	-	$53.4M	-
Research on COVID-19 and pregnancy and postpartum health	NICHD will support research on mitigating the effects of COVID-19 on pregnancies, lactation, and postpartum health with a focus on individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups.	$3M	$3M	-	-	-
Social Security Administration
Establishing a national paid family and medical leave program	The Budget proposes to establish a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave program, providing up to 12 weeks of leave to allow eligible workers to take time off to care for and bond with a new child; care for a seriously ill loved one; heal from their own serious illness; address circumstances arising from a loved one’s military deployment; or find safety from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.	-	$325B	-	-	-
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Pregnant and Postpartum Women Substance Use Disorder	Support for breastfeeding and lactation are included in some resources produced through this program.	$38.9M	$49.4M	-	$38.9M	-
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program	The WIC program provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk.	$6B	$6.3B	$6B	$6.3B	-
WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program	WIC peer counselors are mothers in the community with personal breastfeeding experience who are trained to give information and support to new moms.	$90M	$90M	$90M	$90M	-
Food and Drug Administration
Maternal and Infant Health and Nutrition program	The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition to take regulatory and other actions to address emerging issues of concern, including nutrition work specific to infants, toddlers, and pregnant and lactating women.	$10M	$28M	-	-	-
Indian Health Service
Public Health Nursing (PHN) program	Public health nursing is the integration of nursing practice and public health practice applied to the prevention of disease and the promotion of health. The PHN Program works to decrease childhood obesity and prevent diabetes, including by supporting Baby Friendly re-designation, providing patient education, assessment and referral services and supporting online training on lactation for PHN staff.	$110.7M	$132.3M	-	-	-

Federal Agency/Division	FY2023 Enacted	FY2024 President's Budget	FY2024 House Bill	FY2024 Senate Bill	FY2024 Enacted
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	$9.2B	$11.58B	-	$9.2B	-
Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity	$58.4M	$130.4M	-	$58.4M	-
Health Resources and Services Administration	$9.7B	$15.9B	-	-	-
Maternal and Child Health Bureau	$1.17B	$1.36B	-	-	-
U.S. Department of Labor	$13.8B	$15.1B	-	$13.5B	-
Wage and Hour Division	$260M	$340.9M	-	$264.5M	-
Women's Bureau	$23M	$32.4M	-	$23M	-
Office of Minority Health	$74.8M	$86M	-	-	-
Office on Women's Health	$44.1M	$44.1M	-	-	-
Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality	$373.5M	$447.5M	-	$370.5M	-
National Institutes of Health	$47.5B	$51.1B	-	$47.8B	-
National Institutes of Child Health Development	$1.75B	$1.75B	-	-	-
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission	$455M	$481M	-	$455M	-

To learn more about Fiscal Year 2024 view the below blog posts:

July 2023: "FY24 Appropriations: What the House and Senate Bills Mean for Infant Feeding"
August 2023: "FY24 Appropriations: What Recent Senate Bills Mean for Infant Feeding"

Learn more about the federal budget process.

General Appropriations Resources

Appropriations 101

Learn about the federal appropriations process, which focuses on how funding decisions impact human milk feeding. Although the majority of federal funding for breastfeeding is included in the Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill, lactation is woven into a variety of federal programs that we should expand our investments in. Tune in to see how you can contribute in the process.