Last Chance to Join the USBC Conference, Pride Month Resources, and more

The USBC e-Newsletter, Staying Abreast, is published in a weekly news brief format, called the Weekly Wire (WW). Past issues are archived below.

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Please note: Inclusion of an item in this e-newsletter does NOT imply endorsement or support of such item by the United States Breastfeeding Committee, unless specifically noted.

The WW goes on hiatus several times a year: the weeks of the Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Year's holidays, the weeks before the Presidents Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day holidays, and the weeks of the USBC membership meetings.

Last Chance to Join the USBC Conference, Pride Month Resources, and more

6/3/2022

Weekly Wire: June 3, 2022

In this issue:

USBC Updates
- June is Pride Month!
- Action Alert: Urge Your Legislators to Support the DEMAND Act
- Weekly Wire Hiatus
- Conference Corner: Connect with us on the Conference App!
Special Section on Infant Formula Recall and Shortage
International News
- World Health Assembly Sets New Targets on Breastfeeding
- Tool to Estimate the Economic Value of Breast Milk
- Nutrition Business Monitoring Tool Recommends Breastfeeding Suppor
National News
- White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
- Secretary's Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality
- Misinformation on COVID-19 Vaccine and Pregnancy/Lactation
- Webinar on Establishing a Company Paid Leave Policy
- Study on Breastfeeding and Childhood Asthma
News & Views

* denotes a USBC member organization news item

USBC Updates

June is Pride Month!

The USBC updated the "LGBTQIA+ Resources and Pride Month" webpage. The webpage features a compilation of resources, tools, and materials from the USBC and the First Food field related to breastfeeding, nutrition, health, and culture. Please share additional resources for consideration via the online submission form.

Action Alert: Urge Your Legislators to Support the DEMAND Act

The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee launched an action tool titled "Take Action to Expand Access to Lactation Support and Supplies During Emergencies". Individuals can use the tool to send their Senators and Representative messages in support of the DEMAND Act of 2022 (Delivering Essentials to Mothers Amid Natural Disasters Act) (S. 3601/H.R. 6555). The DEMAND Act would ensure that lactation support services and supplies are eligible expenses for emergency assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Critical Needs Assistance program.

Weekly Wire Hiatus

The Weekly Wire will be on hiatus next week while the USBC staff is supporting the National Breastfeeding Conference & Convening. We look forward to connecting with you at the conference and after!

Conference Corner: Connect with us on the Conference App!

The USBC Conference begins in a few short days! The USBC team is busy finalizing details and ensuring that all presenters and attendees are wrapped into the Whova app. It will be a packed schedule with time for learning, connection, and action. If you haven't registered already, be sure to do so this weekend. You won't want to miss this dynamic event!

Special Section on Infant Formula Recall and Shortage

The United States is facing a serious shortage of infant formula. No baby should ever go hungry. As the nation grapples with this emergency, we need to do everything we can to support infant nutrition, including ensuring access to lactation support, supplies, and accommodations, donor milk, and infant formula. Throughout its history, the USBC has worked to ensure food security for our nation's infants by addressing gaps through policy, systems, and environmental change solutions, including building an infrastructure for infant and young child feeding in emergencies. We remain committed to this cause and will continue to curate and amplify resources from the field. Highlights include:

CAP: The Center for American Progress published a report titled "Addressing the Nation's Infant Formula Crisis." The report details a multipronged strategy for regulatory and legislative actions to address the formula crisis, including stronger support for breastfeeding.
Congress: The House and Senate have hosted several committee hearings to address the infant formula recall and shortage. Visit the hearing webpages to view recordings of the hearings.
- The House Appropriations Committee hosted a hearing titled "The Infant Formula Crisis" on Wednesday, May 25.
- The House Committee on Energy & Commerce hosted a hearing titled "Formula Safety and Supply: Protecting the Health of America's Babies" on Wednesday, May 25.
- The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions hosted a hearing titled "Infant Formula Crisis: Addressing the Shortage and Getting Formula On Shelves" on Thursday, May 26.
CRS: The Congressional Research Service released a report titled "Infant Formula Shortage: FDA Regulation and Federal Response." The report includes a recap of federal-level action to address the current shortage.
HHS:
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General announced that it will review the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) actions leading up to the infant formula recall at the Abbott facility in February 2022 to determine whether FDA followed applicable policies and procedures related to facility inspections and recall initiation.
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a "Baby Formula Shortage Social Media Toolkit." The toolkit includes graphics and key messages in English, Haitian Creole, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
USBC:
- The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee released a fact sheet on potential policy solutions to the address infant feeding infrastructure issues in the U.S. titled "Comprehensive Policy Solutions to Address the Infant Formula Shortage."
- USBC Deputy Director Amelia Psmythe Seger published a blog titled "The Four Pillars of Infant Nutrition Security in the United States." The post outlines the four pillars comprising robust infant feeding infrastructure in the U.S. as well as critically needed policy solutions waiting for Congressional action.
USDA: The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a press release titled "USDA Offers Funding Flexibility to Help States, WIC Families Amid Infant Formula Shortages." The update includes information about USDA's ongoing efforts to supply formula to families in need.

Infant Formula Recall and Shortage News & Views

AP News: "Baby formula shortage highlights racial disparities"
A Better Balance blog post: "America's Baby Formula Shortage Reveals Systemic Barriers for New Parents in the Workplace"
The Cut: "My Life Revolves Around Breastfeeding"
Every Child Thrives: "Nonprofits quickly mobilize to support families facing the baby formula crisis"
The Hill: "Formula shortage won't end until July, FDA chief says"
KARE 11: "It's not that easy to 'just breastfeed'"
NPR: "The baby formula shortage is prompting calls to increase support for breastfeeding"
Ohio Capital Journal: "Ohio Dems lay out infant, families support legislation"
Parents: "What is Relactation? Starting Breastfeeding Again After a Gap"
WKKF blog post: "Infant formula shortage crisis exposed inequities in infant food security"

International News

World Health Assembly Sets New Targets on Breastfeeding

The Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, was held late last month. The event is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. At the meeting, World Health Assembly delegates agreed to new recommendations to prevent and manage obesity over the life course and a set of related targets in a bid to halt the rise of obesity in children under 5, adolescents and adults by 2025 and to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. They outlined actions to be taken by governments, society as a whole, and the WHO Secretariat, in order to reduce the intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake in adults and children; to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates in the first 6 months up to at least 70%, and to reduce the global prevalence of physical inactivity by 15%. WHO has already developed a new plan to support Member States in accelerating action to stop obesity.

Tool to Estimate the Economic Value of Breast Milk

The Australian National University and Alive & Thrive Southeast Asia have partnered to develop the Mothers' Milk Tool. The downloadable tool uses widely available data to estimate the value of breastmilk – produced by an individual or by all mothers in a given country. The tool aims to make more visible the economic value contributed to society by women's unpaid care work through breastfeeding of infants and young children. The tool includes a variety of resources including an advocacy brief that people can print out to speak to their elected representatives about this issue. Read the press release.

Nutrition Business Monitoring Tool Recommends Breastfeeding Support

The Access to Nutrition Initiative and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition have published the final project report for the Nutrition Business Monitoring (NBM) tool, a self-assessment tool for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises in the food and beverage sector. The report provides a detailed overview of the NBM tool and how it can be used by businesses to improve nutrition performance and identify gaps in nutrition-related knowledge and capacity across five areas: products and management, marketing, workforce programs, labeling, and engagement. The section on workforce programs recommends supportive working practices and the provision of appropriate facilities, such as offering breastfeeding rooms, flexible working hours and paid leave.

National News

White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health

The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health will be hosted in September 2022. Individuals and organizations are invited to share ideas and experiences to inform a national strategy that will be announced at the conference. The scope of the conference includes five pillars: Improve food access and affordability; Integrate nutrition and health; Empower all consumers to make and have access to healthy choices; Support physical activity for all; and Enhance nutrition and food security research.

Secretary's Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality

The Health Resources and Services Administration announced that the next meeting of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality (formerly the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality) will be held on Tuesday, June 14, from 11-5:30 p.m. ET, and Wednesday, June 15, from 11-5:30 p.m. ET. The ACIMM advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services on department activities, partnerships, policies, and programs directed at reducing infant mortality, maternal mortality, and severe maternal morbidity and improving the health status of infants and women before, during, and after pregnancy.

Misinformation on COVID-19 Vaccine and Pregnancy/Lactation

The Kaiser Family Foundation released a publication titled "KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: Pregnancy Misinformation – May 2022." The KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor is an ongoing research project tracking the public's attitudes and experiences with COVID-19 vaccinations using a combination of surveys and qualitative research. Researchers found that belief in misinformation about the vaccines and pregnancy is relatively common.

Webinar on Establishing a Company Paid Leave Policy

PL+US (Paid Leave for the United States) is hosting a webinar titled "Virtual panel: Creating best-in-class paid leave policies at your company." The panel conversation will explore how to create a truly inclusive, best-in-class paid leave policy at your company.

Study on Breastfeeding and Childhood Asthma

The journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology published an article titled "The association between duration of breastfeeding and childhood asthma outcomes." The study examined whether both breastfeeding duration and exclusiveness is inversely associated with child asthma. The authors found that longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding had a protective association with child asthma.