In the first days following my son’s birth, a lactation specialist visited me in the hospital no fewer than five times. I was a confident, mature woman with a lot of life experience but the small bumps in the road to breastfeeding felt insurmountable. The empathetic, knowledgeable help I received in those hours post-partum made it possible for me to breastfeed in the weeks and months ahead. Even in my sleep deprived haze, I remember thinking, “What happens to women who don’t have this amazing, free support?!”

Unfortunately, we know. Many of them give up. While 90% of California’s new mothers like me decide to breastfeed, only half are breastfeeding exclusively by the time that they are discharged from the hospital, according to a new report recently issued by the California WIC Association and the UC Davis Human Lactation Center.  The rates of exclusive breastfeeding are lowest among hospitals that serve low-income women of color. These data are particularly troubling as breastfeeding is shown to reduce obesity and asthma (among many other health risks), conditions that disproportionately affect children of color.

These alarming statistics have sparked California legislators to offer legislation that would help hospitals increase breastfeeding support for new moms. The proposed Hospital Infant Feeding Protection Act (SB 502) would require California hospitals to develop an infant feeding policy that supports breastfeeding such as the Baby Friendly USA or Department of Public Health model policies. Additionally, hospitals would be required to post the breastfeeding policies and routinely communicate them to staff.  If approved, the bill's requirements would take effect in January 2014.

Last week, the California Senate approved the bill on a bi-partisan vote of 29-6 and the state Assembly will soon consider the bill.  If you are a Californian, please call your Assembly Member today to express your support for the bill (click here for contact info).  If you live in another state, check out the Baby-Friendly USA site to learn more.

Is this all that we need to address this important issue?  No, definitely not.  But it is an important first step in the right direction and one of the recommendations offered in the California WIC/UC Davis report.  The other common sense recommendations include informing pregnant women about the benefits of breastfeeding, not providing infants with formula unless it is recommended by a doctor, and assisting mothers in breastfeeding within an hour of birth.

If you’ve delivered a baby, did your hospital provide excellent breastfeeding support?  If yes, what did they do?  If not, what happened?