Staying Abreast: Weekly Wire - National Preparedness Month, New CDC PLACES & PRAMS Data Available & 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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Staying Abreast: Weekly Wire - National Preparedness Month, New CDC PLACES & PRAMS Data Available & more

9/6/2024

In this issue:

USBC Updates
- Action Alert: Urge Congress to Invest in Breastfeeding
- September is National Preparedness Month: Share Your IYCF-E Resources!
- Last Chance to Order National Breastfeeding Month Merchandise
Special Section on National Breastfeeding Month
National News
- Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) 2022 Birth Cohort Data Released
- Report on 2022 WIC Eligibility and Program Reach
- New CDC PLACES Data Available, Providing Local Level Insights on Health Measures
- Progress Report from Federal Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant and Lactating Women
- 2024 Best State to Work Index & Best States for Working Women Index
Action Opportunities
Funding Opportunities
Upcoming Events
News & Views
Journal Publications

denotes a USBC member organization news item

USBC Updates

Action Alert: Urge Congress to Invest in Breastfeeding

The federal budget process is underway and the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee is calling on individuals to urge their legislators to support federal funding for breastfeeding with the "Tell Congress: Invest in Breastfeeding" action tool. The House has introduced all twelve of the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bills and the Senate has introduced eleven of the twelve. Congress returns from the August recess on Monday, September 9, and will be focused on advancing these appropriations bills so it is critical that they hear from constituents about the need to invest in breastfeeding. The CDC Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding program supports 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 funding falls far short of what is needed.

September is National Preparedness Month: Share Your IYCF-E Resources!

September is National Preparedness Month, an annual observance to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time. The 2024 National Preparedness Month theme is Start a Conversation and provides an important opportunity to share information and take action to protect infant and young child feeding in emergencies. If your organization hosts relevant human milk-feeding resources that you'd like amplified on the USBC Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies webpage, please share them with us via our submission form. USBC member organizations are invited to share upcoming events related to this month or any lactation content for the USBC Events Calendar by submitting them through the USBC Member Portal.

Last Chance to Order National Breastfeeding Month Merchandise

It's the final week of National Breastfeeding Month, but our 2024 National Breastfeeding Month official merchandise is still available to order in the USBC store. Shop for coffee mugs, tote bags, sweatshirts, t-shirts, and other apparel featuring this year's National Breastfeeding Month theme, Nourish, Sustain, Thrive. A few dollars of each purchase supports the USBC mission to create a landscape of breastfeeding support across the United States. To make an even bigger difference for moms, babies, and families, shoppers can make a donation at checkout. Shop our limited edition merchandise today and thank you for supporting the USBC this National Breastfeeding Month!

Special Section on National Breastfeeding Month

Monday, September 9, marks the end of Latina/x Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month so this will be the final NBM Special Section. Thank you for joining us in action, education, and celebration of our collective efforts this NBM. Access information and links to archived editions of NBM special sections on the National Breastfeeding Month webpage.

Breastfeeding Proclamations

This year, the USBC is celebrating the lactation field securing an incredible 36 state, city, and county proclamations acknowledging National Breastfeeding Month and weekly observances! If your state or local breastfeeding proclamation is not listed on the NBM webpage, please submit it to our communications team so that we can highlight your efforts! Below are the newest proclamations.

Delaware: Governor Carney proclaimed August as Breastfeeding Awareness Month in Delaware.
Michigan: Governor Whitmer proclaimed August 8-14 as Indigenous Milk Medicine Week in Michigan.
Multnomah County: The Board of County Commissioners for Multnomah County proclaimed August 1-7 as World Breastfeeding Week and August 25-31 as Black Breastfeeding Week in Multnomah County, Oregon.

NBM News & Views

Black Voice News: "Black Breastfeeding Week Aims to Reclaim Narrative and Center Stories for Breastfeeding Justice"

Forbes: "Why Are Black Women The Least Likely To Breastfeed? Examining Barriers To Black Breastfeeding"

LaporteCounty.Life: "CoAction's WIC Program and NWI Breastfeeding Coalition Celebrate National Breastfeeding Month"

WHAS11: "UofL Health on the benefits of breastfeeding children"

National News

Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) 2022 Birth Cohort Data Released

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) 2022 Birth Cohort Data. PRAMS is designed to identify groups of women and infants at high risk for health problems, to monitor changes in health status, and to measure progress towards goals in improving the health of mothers and infants. The PRAMS questionnaire includes questions on breastfeeding intention, duration, and breastfeeding as a birth control method. Researchers can access the 2022 Birth Cohort data by downloading the datasets from the PRAMS Automated Research File (ARF) web portal. Visit the PRAMS webpage for instructions.

Report on 2022 WIC Eligibility and Program Reach

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published the "National and State-Level Estimates of the USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Eligibility and WIC Program Reach in 2022" report. The report offers national and state-level estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits as well as the percentage of the eligible population participating in WIC. The analysis also provides estimates by FNS region, state and territory, race and ethnicity, and urbanicity. For the first time in this series of reports, estimated coverage rates for American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) individuals are presented at the national level.

New CDC PLACES Data Available, Providing Local Level Insights on Health Measures

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the release of new data estimates through the PLACES project. PLACES is a collaboration between CDC, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the CDC Foundation, providing health data for small areas across the country. The project allows local health departments and jurisdictions, regardless of population size and rurality, to better understand the burden and geographic distribution of health outcomes in their areas and assist them in planning public health interventions. PLACES provides hyper-local, model-based estimates for the entire U.S. population for 49 chronic disease and other health-related measures at four levels of geography: U.S. counties, incorporated and census-designated places, census tracts, and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas. The latest PLACES model-based estimates are generated from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the U.S. Census 2020 Population Count, and the American Community Survey 2018-2022.

USBC Insight: Breastfeeding is proven to reduce the risk of a number of the health measures included in the PLACES project, including a reduced risk of obesity and type 1 and 2 diabetes for breastfed children and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and breast cancer for women who breastfeed. Social and economic factors and conditions in the physical environment cause and exacerbate disparities. Investing in breastfeeding and lactation support represents a powerful investment in public health. This local-level data can serve as a helpful tool for advocates to demonstrate to policymakers why lactation-friendly policies and investments are critically needed.

Progress Report from Federal Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant and Lactating Women

The Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women Implementation Working Group of Council released the "Report on Implementation Progress." Based on information gathered through four open meetings and a public comment period, PRGLAC developed a report in 2018 that included 15 recommendations to improve the inclusion of pregnant women and lactating women in clinical research, and later developed an Implementation Plan that was submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services. This new report provides an assessment of the progress made on each of the recommendations in the 2018 PRGLAC Report. Learn more on the PRGLAC Implementation Working Group of Council webpage.

2024 Best State to Work Index & Best States for Working Women Index

Oxfam released the "2024 Best States to Work Index." The index tracks policies supporting working families in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Along with the Index, Oxfam also released the fourth edition of the "Best States for Working Women Index," which ranks states based on policies that support women workers, including paid leave and paid pumping breaks for breastfeeding workers.â€¯The report offers policy recommendations for both federal and state policymakers.

State & Community News

Ohio Medicaid Program Expands Coverage to Include Lactation Consulting Services

The Ohio Department of Medicaid released revised Rule Number 5160-8-42 on Lactation consultation services. The rule establishes Medicaid payment for lactation consulting services when provided by International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants, advanced practice registered nurses, physicians, or physician assistants.