Staying Abreast: Weekly Wire: Ask the White House to Prioritize Breastfeeding in the FY25 President's Budget & 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.

Subscribe: visit the signup page
Submit: visit the submission form

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.

Staying Abreast: Weekly Wire: Ask the White House to Prioritize Breastfeeding in the FY25 President's Budget & more

3/1/2024

In this issue:

USBC Updates
- Take Action: Ask the White House to Prioritize Breastfeeding in the FY25 President's Budget
- Upcoming Events from USBC Members
Special Section on Paid Family and Medical Leave
International News
- IBCLC Day Marketing Toolkit and Celebration
- USAID Breastfeeding Counseling Program Highlight
- USAID Resource on Advancing Nutrition Responsive Care and Early Learning
National News
- Final Phase Winners Announced for the Reducing Disparities in Breastfeeding Innovation Challenge
- NACCHO Virtual Learning Collaborative on MCH Populations and Emergencies
- CBPP Report on Increasing WIC Enrollment
- USDA Economic Research Service Report on Findings Related to WIC Program
State & Community News
- Arizona Bill Introduced to Require Accommodations for Pregnant Workers
Action Opportunities
Funding Opportunities
Upcoming Events
News & Views
Journal Publications

denotes a USBC member organization news item denotes a USBC-affiliated constellation news item

USBC Updates

Take Action: Ask the White House to Prioritize Breastfeeding in the FY25 President's Budget

The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee issued a call to action, urging individuals to use the "Families Need Support: Prioritize Breastfeeding in the President's Budget" tool to ask the White House to recommend $20 million for the CDC Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding program. Each fiscal year, the federal budget process begins with the President's Budget, which sets the stage for negotiations, and right now, decisions are being made in preparation for the Fiscal Year 2025 President's Budget launch in March. Since 2012, the Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding program has supported a wide range of public health efforts, including improving maternity care practices, increasing access to peer and professional support, ensuring continuity of breastfeeding care, increasing support for breastfeeding employees, and addressing disparities in breastfeeding rates. But historic funding level falls far short of what is needed. With your help, we can build an infrastructure that protects infant nutrition security and makes breastfeeding and lactation support more accessible to families. Take action with us today! Even if you've already contacted the White House with this tool, please consider taking action one more time.

Upcoming Events from USBC Members

The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee maintains an Events Calendar with upcoming breastfeeding-related events that are hosted by our extensive network of USBC member organizations. Events include online trainings, learning opportunities, virtual conferences, and more. Visit the calendar to explore recently added events taking place in March. USBC member organizations are invited to submit events via the USBC Member Portal.

Special Section on Paid Family and Medical Leave

Access to paid family and medical leave has a significant impact on breastfeeding outcomes. Yet, the United States is one of the only countries in the world without a national paid family and medical leave program, and many workers are not even eligible for unpaid leave. The USBC and the lactation field have been active in efforts to increase access to paid leave. Highlights from the field on this policy area include:

Arizona: Arizona state Senator Mendez introduced Senate Bill 1632. The bill would establish a state paid family and medical insurance leave program, providing up to 26 weeks of paid leave for the birth, adoption, or placement through foster care of a child, to care for themselves or a family member with a serious health condition, for qualifying exigency leave related to a family member's active duty in the armed forces, or for safe leave.
Connecticut: Connecticut state Senator Anwar and Representative Michel introduced An Act Expanding Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Benefits to Noncertified School Employees. The bill would extend the state family and medical leave benefits to employees of a local or regional board of education who do not hold professional certification.
Iowa: The Iowa House Committee on State Government introduced an Act providing for state employee parental leave. The bill would provide state employees entitled to leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act with paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. The bill would provide up to four weeks of paid leave for a parent who gives birth or adopts a child and up to one week of paid leave for a parent who did not give birth.
Kentucky: Kentucky state Senator Tichenor introduced An act providing maternity leave for public school employees (Senate Bill 205/House Bill 756). The bill would provide a public school teacher or employee who gives birth up to 20 maternity days without deduction of salary.
Mississippi:
- Mississippi state Representative Butler-Washington introduced the Mississippi Paid Family and Medical Leave Act. The bill would require the Mississippi Department of Employment Security to establish and administer a state family and medical leave insurance program, providing up to 12 weeks of paid leave to employees for the birth, adoption, or placement through foster care of a new child, to care for their own or a family member's serious health condition, or because of qualifying exigency leave arising out of the deployment of a family member.
- Mississippi state Representative Cockerham introduced House Bill 1608. The bill would provide up to six weeks of paid leave for state employees who are the primary caregiver of a child to care for the child after birth, adoption, or foster placement.
- Mississippi state Senator Boyd introduced the State Employee Maternity Leave Act. The bill would provide up to six weeks of paid maternity leave to employees who have been employed with the state for at least two years.
Rhode Island: Rhode Island state Senator Cano introduced the Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act. The bill would increase the amount of parental or family leave available to an employee from 13 weeks to 24 weeks in any two calendar years.
Wisconsin: Wisconsin state Senator Johnson and Representative Hong introduced Senate Bill 1064. The bill would establish a state family and medical leave insurance program that provides up to 12 weeks of family leave for the birth, adoption, or placement of a child for foster care, to care for a family member who has a serious health condition, or because of any qualifying exigency.
Wyoming: Wyoming state Senator Barlow and Representative Sherwood introduced House Bill 0174. The bill would establish a voluntary state paid family and medical leave insurance program providing covered employees not less than 60 percent wage replacement for up to 12 weeks for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child, to care for their own or a family member with a serious health condition, or a qualifying exigency related to active military duty.

International News

IBCLC Day Marketing Toolkit and Celebration

Wednesday, March 6, is IBCLC Day, hosted by the International Lactation Consultant Association. International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Day celebrates the extraordinary services that IBCLCs provide to expectant parents, new mothers, and the healthcare teams who form their circle of care. ILCA released the "IBCLC Day Marketing Toolkit" to help individuals and organizations join the celebration by thanking and recognizing the contributions of IBCLCs, as well as shareable graphics.

USAID Breastfeeding Counseling Program Highlight

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) released "A Facility-Based Mentoring Program to Strengthen Breastfeeding Counseling: Program Resources." The resource highlights a breastfeeding counseling mentorship program tested by the Kenya Ministry of Health and USAID Advancing Nutrition at Mbagathi County Referral Hospital in Nairobi County, Kenya.

USAID Resource on Advancing Nutrition Responsive Care and Early Learning

The United States Agency for International Development Advancing Nutrition developed the "Responsive Care and Early Learning (RCEL) Addendum." The package is designed to support community-level counselors and health providers as they provide individual counseling and/or group sessions that encourage high-priority caregiving behaviors for improved early childhood development outcomes, including related to breastfeeding. The RCEL Addendum is a global package that gives programs the flexibility to adapt the materials to different country contexts and audiences by adjusting the content and delivery modalities and is available in six languages.

National News

Final Phase Winners Announced for the Reducing Disparities in Breastfeeding Innovation Challenge

The Office on Women's Health awarded prizes to winners in the final phase of the Reducing Disparities in Breastfeeding Innovation Challenge. This national competition was created to identify and reward programs that increase breastfeeding initiation and continuation rates and decrease disparities among breastfeeding mothers in the United States. The final phase winners successfully replicated or expanded their program geographically, clinically, and/or by increasing the program's size or reach. The winners include USBC member organization, Baby Cafe USA.

NACCHO Virtual Learning Collaborative on MCH Populations and Emergencies

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) launched the 2023-2024 "Virtual Learning Collaborative (VLC) for the Inclusion of Maternal-Child Health (MCH) Populations in Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR)." The VLC aims to increase the capacity of local health departments to prioritize MCH populations in emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation activities. The new cohort includes 10 local health departments.

CBPP Report on Increasing WIC Enrollment

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report, "WIC's Critical Benefits Reach Only Half of Those Eligible: States Missing Out on Opportunity to Improve Pregnancy-Related, Child Health." The federally funded Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program improves the health of low-income pregnant and postpartum people, their infants, and young children, but just half of those eligible are enrolled. The report explains why increasing WIC take-up matters, summarizes WIC coverage rates over time and among specific groups, identifies likely participation barriers, and highlights specific strategies that state and local WIC leaders can employ to reduce barriers so more eligible families will enroll and participate for longer.

USDA Economic Research Service Report on Findings Related to WIC Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service released a report, "The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Background, Trends, and Economic Issues, 2024 Edition." The USDA periodically reports on research findings relevant to WIC policy and program operations, often following major changes in the program's design. The 2024 edition of this report explains how WIC works, discusses program trends, and summarizes research findings on key economic outcomes and policy issues facing the program. The report outlines temporary changes to WIC in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the infant formula supply chain disruptions that occurred in 2022, and features the "Breastfeeding in WIC program increased following infant formula market disruptions in 2022" chart.

State & Community News

Arizona Bill Introduced to Require Accommodations for Pregnant Workers

Arizona state Senator Burch introduced the Pregnant Workers Protection Act. The bill would require employers that employ 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees, including a private area for breastfeeding after childbirth, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship.