National Breastfeeding Month theme, PUMP Act sign on letter opportunity, and more

Weekly Wire: June 24, 2022

In this issue:

• USBC Updates
  • 2022 National Breastfeeding Month Theme
  • Organizational Sign-On Letter Opportunity Urging the Senate to Pass the PUMP Act
  • Thank You for Joining Us for the 2022 USBC Conference!
  • USBC Supports...
• Special Section on Infant Formula Recall and Shortage
• National News
  • Second Annual Report on RMOMS Program
  • Webinar on the Role of Fathers in Maternal and Child Health
  • Webinar on Leveraging Healthy People 2030 to Support Families
• State & Community News
  • Scholarship Application for Aspiring Lactation Support Providers in Kansas
  • Sign-on Letter Opportunity Urging Virginia Senators to Support the PUMP Act
• News & Views

* denotes a USBC member organization news item     

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USBC Updates

2022 National Breastfeeding Month Theme

This August marks the 12th annual National Breastfeeding Month (NBM). We're thrilled to announce that the 2022 theme is Together We Do Great Things! Each year during NBM, individuals and organizations are invited to participate in online action and conversation about the policy and practice changes needed to build a landscape of support for lactating families. To support organizations as they celebrate, the USBC released an updated version of the NBM Proclamation Toolkit. The toolkit can be used to request a breastfeeding proclamation from their governor or mayor. But that's not all! August will also feature the celebration of four weekly observances:

• World Breastfeeding Week
• Indigenous Milk Medicine Week
• Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week
• Black Breastfeeding Week

Stay tuned for news and updates in the weeks ahead. We look forward to spotlighting all of the weekly observances and celebrating all of your efforts to increase awareness, action, and conversation about the policy and practice changes needed for parents to succeed in their breastfeeding, bodyfeeding, and human milk feeding journeys.

Organizational Sign-On Letter Opportunity Urging the Senate to Pass the PUMP Act

The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee, A Better Balance, American Civil Liberties Union, MomsRising, National WIC Association, and WorkLife Law launched an organizational sign-on letter urging Senators to cosponsor and swiftly pass the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act (S. 1658). The PUMP Act advanced out of the Senate HELP Committee with unanimous bipartisan support in May 2021 and then passed with significant bipartisan support (267-149) in the House last October. In the midst of the current crisis where parents are struggling to feed their babies, the Senate must act now to support families who are breastfeeding, formula feeding, or a combination of both. The PUMP Act is an important piece of this puzzle. Please consider adding your organization to the joint letter urging Senators to pass the PUMP Act without delay. The deadline to be included in the initial delivery of the letter is Wednesday, June 15. Additional signers will be added on a rolling basis after this date. Please note that if your organization has signed on to a PUMP Act joint letter in the past, someone will still need to complete the form again. 

Thank You for Joining Us for the USBC Conference

The USBC extends our sincere gratitude to all who participated in this year's National Breastfeeding Conference & Convening! It was a full and rich three days of online learning and connection. If you would like to be able to access the session recordings, you may register at the post-event rate. Paid registrants will have access to session recordings for three months.

• Thank you to our funders, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for making this event possible. 
• Thank you to our networking sponsor, Lactation Education Resources, and our exhibitors: AngelEye Health, Bloom Collective, Bold Futures, Breastfeeding Mamas, BreastfeedLA, Health e-Learning, Hygeia Breast Pumps, Institute for the Advancement of Breastfeeding & Lactation Education, International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners, Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition, La Leche League USA, Mom2Mom Global, Nisus Life, Noey Loves Nursing by Monica Haywood, Nourish & Thrive, Nurturings, Nutrition Matters, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, Certificate of Human Lactation, Plumtree Baby, LLC, Praeclarus Press, pumpspotting, and Rumble Tuff. You may learn more about each of them on the USBC Website.
• Thank you to the nearly 70 presenters who shared penetrating insights and crucial information with the nearly 500 event attendees, helping to guide and strengthen our collective efforts to create a landscape of support for lactating families. 

USBC Supports...

The USBC has joined the following organizational sign on letter from the field:

• National Women's Law Center: Statement urging the Biden administration to release a new Title IX rule

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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 in the Weekly Wire Newsletter and on the USBC Website.  Recent highlights include:

• Congress: 
  • The Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights is holding a hearing titled "Baby Formula and Beyond: The Impact of Consolidation on Families and Consumers" on Wednesday, June 15, at 2:30 p.m. ET. The hearing will include witnesses from Open Markets Institute, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Center for Trade Policy Studies, and the National Consumers League. 
  • Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) and Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) sent a letter urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to address online marketplaces that fail to protect consumers from the fraudulent and deceptive sale of infant formula. Recent news reports have shown that unscrupulous third-party vendors on online marketplaces are selling infant formula at significantly higher prices, advertising fake products, and employing other deceptive tactics to scam consumers during the infant formula shortage. Read the press release.
  • Many bills have and continue to be introduced around the infant formula shortage. Bills introduced in recent weeks include: 
    • Keep Infant Formula Safe and On the Shelves Act of 2022 (H.R. 7933)
    • Emergency Infant Formula Act (S.4350/H.R.7875)
• HHS/USDA: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are hosting a virtual roundtable on the Infant Formula shortage on Wednesday, June 15, at 6 p.m. ET. The event will include updates and information for families who are struggling to find infant formula. 
• *ROSE: Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE) published "ROSE Statement on Infant Feeding." The statement describes the ROSE perspective and commitment to support families during and beyond the current crisis. 
• USDA: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering nationwide waivers to increase access to infant formula for families in need as states receive and distribute imported infant formula. USDA is leveraging new authority from the recently passed Access to Baby Formula Act to offer this flexibility. 
• White House: The White House released "Remarks by President Biden During Virtual Meeting on Accelerating Infant Formula Production Through Operation Fly Formula." The comments were made during a virtual meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and manufacturers of infant formula held on Wednesday, June 1. 

Infant Formula Recall and Shortage News & Views

• *LER blog: "The Formula Shortage: Lactation Providers Can Help"
• Speaking of Medicine and Health (PLOS blog): "A formula for disaster"

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National News

Second Annual Report on RMOMS Program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report titled "Evaluation of the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program: Second Annual Report." Launched in 2019, the RMOMS program uses network models to increase access to maternal and obstetrics care in rural communities and to improve health outcomes for mothers and infants. The RMOMS program has four required Focus Areas: a network approach to coordinate and improve maternal health care from preconception to postpartum; telehealth services to increase access to care in rural areas; potential aggregation of low-volume rural obstetric services; and payment structures that promote financial sustainability for access to high-quality maternal care. Several RMOMS grantees included lactation support and supplies as part of their programs. Read the Executive Summary.

Article on Experiences with Breastfeeding Peer Support

The journal Midwifery published a Review Article titled "Views and experiences of women, peer supporters and healthcare professionals on breastfeeding peer support: A systematic review of qualitative studies." The authors sought to examine and synthesize qualitative evidence of women's, peer supporters' and healthcare professionals' views and experiences of breastfeeding peer support. The article found that breastfeeding peer support increased women's self-esteem and confidence in breastfeeding while reducing social isolation and that although there were tensions between some healthcare professionals and peer supporters, many valued the mutual support offered. 

Webinar on the Role of Fathers in Maternal and Child Health

The Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center (MHLIC) and Reaching Our Brothers Everywhere (ROBE) are hosting a webinar titled "Fatherhood Forward" on Thursday, June 16, at 1 pm ET. The health and overall impact of fathers and individuals who support women and birthing people has come into focus in the maternal health realm. Studies show that maternal health is not the only determining factor in maternal and child health outcomes. In collaboration with ROBE, MHLIC is helping bring more attention to men and those who have supportive roles in the lives of women, birthing people, and their children. 

Webinar on Leveraging Healthy People 2030 to Support Families

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion announced the next webinar in the Healthy People 2030 webinar series, "Leveraging Healthy People 2030 to Address Issues Affecting Children, Mothers, and Families." The webinar will take place on Wednesday, June 22, from 3-4 p.m. ET and will focus on children and family health and well-being, and highlight progress to date on three Healthy People 2030 objectives: IVP-16: Reduce nonfatal child abuse and neglect, MICH-04: Reduce maternal deaths, and NWS-01: Reduce household food insecurity and hunger.

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State & Community News

*Scholarship Application for Aspiring Lactation Support Providers in Kansas

The Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition announced a funding program to support aspiring lactation support providers. The purpose of this program is to increase the number of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) and certified lactation support providers who are available to provide culturally congruent breastfeeding support and clinical care. 

Sign-on Letter Opportunity Urging Virginia Senators to Support the PUMP Act 

Nurture launched an organizational sign-on letter urging Virginia Senators Kaine and Warner to support and pass the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act (S. 1658). The PUMP Act would close coverage gaps in the Break Time for Nursing Mothers law, providing protections to an additional 9 million women of childbearing age across the nation. The deadline to sign on is today, Wednesday, June 15. 

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News & Views

A Better Balance: "Using Federal Funds to Advance Paid Leave: New Developments from Colorado and Vermont"

AMCHP: "AMCHP Leads National Coalitions in FY23 Maternal Health Appropriations Letters"

JD Supra: "New York State Act Would Bolster Employees’ Lactation Rights in the Workplace"

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