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.

Opportunities for Action

The USBC is urging Congress to increase funding for the CDC Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding line item in the FY 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. Learn more about the impact of this funding.

Your Voice is Needed: Take Action to Support Federal Funding for Breastfeeding

Click here to take action

Click here to join the organizational letter

Historic Funding Levels for the Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding Program

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 2023 Appropriations: Current Status and What it Means for Infant Feeding

View the Congressional Research Service Appropriations Status Table to access House and Senate appropriations bills and associated reports.

The House and Senate Appropriations Committee released the twelve Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Appropriations bills.

A detailed analysis of the funded provisions from these bills and associated reports is included in the following chart.

	Connection to Infant Feeding	*FY2022 Enacted*	FY2023 President's Budget	FY2023 House Bill	FY2023 Senate Bill	FY2023 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	$9.5M	$9.75M	$9.93M	TBD
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.	$65.95M	$63.95M	$75.95M	$75.95M	TBD
Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country	The GHWIC program includes increased breastfeeding as a long-term goal.	$22.5M	$22M	$26.5M	$26.5M	TBD
Safe Motherhood and Infant Health	Breastfeeding is included in the Perinatal Quality Collaboratives and Substance Abuse During Pregnancy programs within the SMIH program.	$83M	$164M	$143M	$164M	TBD
National Early Child Care Collaboratives	NECCC funding helps children up to five years old develop healthy eating and physical activity supporting healthy growth, including brain development, and decrease their risk later in life for obesity. CDC funds, trains, and assists in obesity prevention efforts in early childhood education (ECE) settings, also known as child care, based on the CDC's guiding framework called the Spectrum of Opportunities which outlines how states can embed obesity prevention standards to ensure healthy eating, breastfeeding support, and physical activity and support and monitor state ECE system progress.	$4M	$4M	$5M	$5M	TBD
Office on Women’s Health
Analysis of the macroeconomic, health, and social costs of U.S. breastfeeding rates and national breastfeeding goals.	The Office on Women’s Health and the National Academy of Sciences shall provide a differential analysis of the current policies, programs, and investments aimed at increasing breastfeeding rates, reducing racial, geographic, and income-related breastfeeding disparities, and reducing U.S. reliance on formula, as well as propose recommendations for achieving the Healthy People 2020 and 2030 breastfeeding goals.	-	-	$1.25M	-	TBD
Health Resources Service Administration
Maternal and Child Health Block Grant	Breastfeeding is included in the MCH Block Grant National Performance Measures.	$747.7M	$953.7M	$872.7M	$951.7M	TBD
Healthy Start	The Healthy Start program implements community-based interventions to improve the health of mothers and children, including breastfeeding education.	$132M	$145M	$145M	$145M	TBD
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.	$6M	$10M	$8M	$10M	TBD
National Institutes of Health
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	$30M	-	TBD
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.	N/A	$3M	$3M	$3M	TBD
Pregnant Women and Lactating Women Advisory Committee	The Committee includes funding for the creation of an Advisory Committee to monitor and report on the implementation of the recommendations from the Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women (PRGLAC).	N/A	N/A	$200k	-	TBD
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.	$34.9M	$43.4M	$49.9M	$41.9M	TBD
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program	WIC 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	$6B	$6B	$6B	TBD
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	TBD
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.	$11M	$20M	-	$8.5M	TBD
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Research on Health Costs, Quality, and Outcomes: Improving Maternal Health	This new funding will support research to ensure that Federal, State, and local policymakers have timely and accurate data and useful analytic resources about maternal health and the healthcare system with which to make informed policy decisions.	N/A	$7.4M	$7.4M	$6.5M	TBD
Office of the Secretary
Alcohol Research for Dietary Guidelines	This funding would support the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on alcohol consumption and a variety of factors, including lactation.	-	-	-	$1M	TBD

Federal Agency/Division	FY2022 Enacted	FY2023 President's Budget	FY2023 House Bill	FY2023 Senate Bill	FY2023 Enacted
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	$8.46B	$10.7B	$10.5B	$10.5B	TBD
Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity	$58.4M	$56.9M	$58.4M	$9.6B	TBD
Health Resources and Services Administration	$8.9B	$13.3B	$9.6B	$9.6B	TBD
Maternal and Child Health Bureau	$1B	$1.75B	$1.2B	$1.25B	TBD
U.S. Department of Labor	$13.2B	$14.6B	$15B	$13.8B	TBD
Wage and Hour Division	$251M	$307.7M	$313M	$288.1M	TBD
Women's Bureau	$18M	$25M	$35M	$26M	TBD
Office of Minority Health	$64.8M	$86M	$81M	$80.8M	TBD
Office on Women's Health	$38.1M	$42M	$48M	$48.1M	TBD
Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality	$350.4M	$415.9M	$385M	$385.4M	TBD
National Institutes of Health	$45B	$62.5B	$47.5B	$47.9M	TBD
Office of Research on Women’s Health	$59M	$52.6M	$64M	$25M	TBD
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission	$420M	$464.7M	$464.7M	$460M	TBD

Funding provisions that impact infant feeding are primarily included in the following appropriations bills.

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Additional provisions related to infant feeding are included in the below appropriations bills:

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act:
Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act:
Homeland Security Appropriations Act:
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

The appropriations bills and associated reports also include several unfunded directives, described in the below blog posts:

Once both the House and Senate have passed the appropriations bills, they must be "conferenced" to work out any differences between the two versions. House-Senate conference committees make final determinations and prepare a Conference Report. The Conference Report is then passed by the House and the Senate and sent to the President to be signed.

All appropriations bills must be completed by the end of the fiscal year on September 30, or Congress will have to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded at the start of FY 2022 on October 1. 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 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.