Staying Abreast: Weekly Wire - Call for Stories on Air Travel with Breastmilk, & More

Weekly Wire: January 23, 2026

The Staying Abreast: Weekly Wire e-Newsletter is a compendium of news, actions, and resources considered to be of interest or relevance to the breastfeeding field. The newsletter aims to support the USBC mission "To drive collaborative efforts for policy and practices that create a landscape of breastfeeding support across the United States." Included items are submitted for consideration or identified by the USBC e-news team via extensive online review. Whenever possible, the newsletter utilizes language directly from the primary source of an item without additional analysis or edits. In some cases, the USBC offers additional perspectives through the "USBC Insights," media and partner highlights, and the "News & Views" section. Inclusion of an item in the e-newsletter does not imply endorsement or support by the USBC of an item or organization, unless specifically noted. 

In this issue:

• USBC Updates
  • Call for Stories: Air Travel with Breastmilk
  • USBC Submits Comments to CDC on PRAMS Significance to Breastfeeding
  • USBC Executive Director Selected for 2026 BLI Executive Fellowship
  • Welcoming New USBC Member Organizations: Birth by Queens Foundation, Inc. & Costa Consultation LLC
• National News
  • WIC Breastfeeding Data Local Agency Dashboard
  • Updated Paid Leave & Workplace Rights Resources
• State & Community News
  • Mississippi Bill Introduced Requiring Licensure for Lactation Consulting
  • New Jersey Bill Introduced to Establish Maternity Care Public Awareness Campaign
  • New York Bill Introduced to Enhance Medicaid Services During Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Oklahoma Bill Introduced to Require Insurance Coverage of Lactation Support and Supplies
• Action Opportunities
• Upcoming Events
• News & Views

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

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USBC Updates

Call for Stories: Air Travel with Breastmilk

The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) is collecting stories from parents about their experiences and challenges with transporting breast milk and/or pumping supplies during air travel. The Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening (BABES) Enhancement Act was recently signed into law. The new law directs the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to develop enforceable guidance to ensure the hygienic handling of breast milk and other infant feeding items during security screening for air travel. Share your story with the USBC so that we can synthesize lived experiences and elevate them in conversations about where improvements are needed—helping ensure that real-world challenges inform how this new law is put into practice. Stories may be submitted anonymously.

USBC Submits Comments to CDC on PRAMS Significance to Breastfeeding

The USBC submitted a comment to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in response to the request for public input on extending the data collection authority for the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS). The USBC comment strongly supports this extension and demonstrates why PRAMS data collection is essential for monitoring breastfeeding trends and informing evidence-based infant feeding policies and programmatic decisions nationwide.

USBC Executive Director Selected for 2026 BLI Executive Fellowship

The USBC is proud to announce that our Executive Director, Jennifer Day, will be part of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice’s 2026 BLI Executive Fellowship cohort, beginning January 2026! This transformative fellowship program is designed to bring together a national cohort of senior-level leaders addressing issues with significant outcome disparities for Black individuals and communities. Over the next 12 months, this cohort will come together locally and nationally for sessions designed to equip them with new leadership strategies for building collective power to advance impact in their organizations and for Black individuals and marginalized communities.

Welcoming New USBC Member Organizations: Birth by Queens Foundation, Inc. & Costa Consultation LLC

The USBC is thrilled to welcome 18 organizations to our member network as of January 2026! Throughout the coming weeks, each edition of the Weekly Wire newsletter will be highlighting two new member organizations, presented in alphabetical order. Access the archive to review past editions. The USBC warmly welcomes all new and returning member organizations to our table! This week, we are highlighting Birth by Queens Foundation, Inc. and Costa Consultation LLC. 

Based in Queens, New York, Birth By Queens Foundation Inc. is a nonprofit developed to increase access to the midwifery model of care through community education, advocacy, events, and the development of birth centers. They aim to ensure every community has access to a midwife, and every family knows birth centers are safe spaces for care, from conception to college. 

Costa Consultation LLC provides comprehensive lactation consulting and maternal wellness services in Quincy, Massachusetts, with accessibility at the core through insurance coverage and sliding scale options that ensure all families can access breastfeeding support. 

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National News

 WIC Breastfeeding Data Local Agency Dashboard

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) hosts the "WIC Breastfeeding Data Local Agency Dashboard" on the USDA website. This resource presents the WIC Breastfeeding Data Local Agency Report in an interactive dashboard format. It allows you to view state and local agency breastfeeding data using maps, charts, and filters. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) promotes and supports breastfeeding as an important part of the nutrition services it provides to meet its mission of safeguarding the health of low-income women, infants, and children. These reports are a compilation of fiscal year (FY) breastfeeding performance measurements, based on program participation data of the number of partially and fully breastfed infants for each WIC state and local agency.

Updated Paid Leave & Workplace Rights Resources

A Better Balance updated a few webpages on paid leave and workplace rights. The Interactive Overview of Paid Family and Medical Leave Laws in the United States webpage provides an interactive, customizable comparison of current paid family and medical leave laws across the nation, with breakdowns of who is covered and program specifications and requirements in each state. The Workplace Rights Hub provides a state-by-state guide to asserting your rights in the workplace as you care for yourself and your loved ones, including navigating time off and accommodations at work while pregnant and breastfeeding.

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State & Community News

Mississippi Bill Introduced Requiring Licensure for Lactation Consulting

Mississippi Representative Anderson introduced HB1093. The bill would require lactation consultants to hold certification from the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) and obtain a state license to practice. It would also establish criminal penalties for unlicensed practice, while providing limited licensure exceptions for specified providers whose scope of practice includes lactation consulting.

New Jersey Bill Introduced to Establish Maternity Care Public Awareness Campaign

New Jersey Senators Cruz-Perez and Lagana introduced S1066. The bill would establish a maternity care public awareness campaign through the Department of Health to improve maternal and child health. At a minimum, the campaign would share aggregated hospital data — including exclusive breastfeeding rates at discharge — to inform care decisions and highlight high-value care options such as midwives, doulas, and lactation support. It would also provide the public with information about breastfeeding and pregnancy discrimination rights and other maternity care resources.

New York Bill Introduced to Enhance Medicaid Services During Pregnancy and Postpartum

New York Assemblymember Solages introduced A5279. The bill would extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from one year to two years. The bill would also allow pregnant and postpartum Medicaid recipients to receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket pregnancy-related costs, up to $1,250, including doula support and lactation support services.

Oklahoma Bill Introduced to Require Insurance Coverage of Lactation Support and Supplies

Oklahoma Representative Roe introduced HB3286. The bill would mandate insurance and Medicaid coverage of home visits by lactation consultants as well as breast pumps and related supplies. The bill would also create tax exemptions for the sale, rental, or lease of breast pumps and related supplies.

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Action Opportunities

 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review." Public comments deadline: Friday, February 13.

USBC Insight: This comment opportunity is regarding the CDC’s mPINC survey, a key tool for tracking how maternity care practices support breastfeeding. Submitting comments can help ensure the survey reflects the full scope of infant feeding experiences, identifies gaps in lactation support, and continues to inform improvements in hospital care. Highlighting the utility of this dataset helps reinforce its role in guiding quality improvement across health systems. A robust public response signals to CDC that monitoring breastfeeding-related practices remains a vital component of public health infrastructure and warrants continued investment. This is a routine follow-up to a similar mPINC public comment opportunity last summer, making sustained stakeholder engagement particularly important.

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Upcoming Events

Wednesday, January 28:

• Radical Moms Union: "Jan 28th: Tell Meta to Take Down ByHeart Influencer Ads!" 

January 2026 On-Demand: 

•  Michigan Breastfeeding Network - Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinar: "Breastfeeding with Trauma: Navigating the Journey After Sexual Assault"

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News & Views

A Better Balance:

• "Fact Sheet: The Importance of Inclusive, Realistic Family Definitions for Paid Leave"
• "Family Matters: Guide to Defining Family Inclusively in Workplace Leave Laws and Policies"

HR Dive: "State paid family leave benefit changes in 2026"

 Our Milky Way: "The BABES Act- A little sanity for traveling families."

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U.S. Breastfeeding Committee
1629 K Street NW Suite 300 | Washington, District of Columbia 20006
(773) 359-1549 | [email protected] 

 

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