Abstract
Dear Editor:
On June 10, the District of Columbia Breastfeeding Coalition, 1 in collaboration with the District of Columbia and Virginia Chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) hosted a Breastfeeding Advocacy Day. By joining this initiative, the Virginia AAP Chapter 2 helped to promote and attend the event. On that day, 34 women (pediatricians, nurses, lactation consultants, La Leche League leaders, and Women, Infants, and Children [WIC] personnel) went to Capitol Hill to lobby for the introduction of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 2819, S. 1244). These women represented the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The participants met with a total of six Senators and 16 members of the House of Representatives. Virginia had an impressive showing with a total of 11 participants, which included pediatricians, nurses, lactation consultants, and Masters of Public Health students.
Representative Carolyn Maloney (NY) 3 and Senator Jeff Merkley (OR) 4 introduced the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 in both houses of Congress the following day.
The Breastfeeding Promotion Act3,5–7 helps to support mothers by helping them to continue to provide breastmilk for their infants once they return to work. Currently 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have already enacted various laws protecting breastfeeding mothers; however, they are neither uniform nor comprehensive.
The Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 2819, S. 1244) includes five provisions:
Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding women from being fired or discriminated against in the workplace. Provides tax incentives for businesses that establish private lactation areas in the workplace or provide breastfeeding equipment or consultation services to their employees. Provides for a performance standard to ensure breast pumps are safe and effective. Allows breastfeeding equipment and consultation services to be tax deductible for families (amends Internal Revenue Code definition of “medical care”). Protects the privacy of breastfeeding mothers by ensuring they have break time and a private place to pump (applies to employers with 50 or more employees).
Prior to the event, participants were required to contact their state representatives to set up appointments in order to speak to legislators and their aides about the importance of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. Many of us, as team leaders, were responsible for making the appointments for participants from our state. As one of the team leaders from Virginia, I spoke with aides representing house representative leaders from four different districts around the state of Virginia. The leaders from the District of Columbia Breastfeeding Coalition made appointments for all participants to meet with their Senators.
Before we took to Capitol Hill, our morning started with an Advocacy Training led by Cindy Pellegrini, representing the Federal Affairs office of the AAP. She spoke to participants about the different types and levels of advocacy and how lobbying efforts by the AAP have been responsible for several bills being passed to help advocate and protect children. We also did some role-playing to help us prepare for our meetings with Congressional aides.
For the Virginia participants, our first meeting was with Senator Warner's Congressional aide who specializes in health matters. She told us that Senator Warner was very supportive of the bill. However, she informed us of the importance of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scoring system that each bill receives once it is introduced. It was especially enlightening to find out that when the budget is decided for bills, these monetary figures, plus the CBO scores, do NOT take prevention into account. For example, while the benefits of breastfeeding are known, many of them will not be seen until later in the future—unfortunately, these savings from prevention are not taken into account. However, when we informed her of the immediate cost savings, such as neonatal intensive care unit hospitalizations costs, as well as federal costs associated with formula purchases for WIC, she stated the importance of including this within the bill. She also asked us for more detailed information regarding the immediate cost savings associated with breastfeeding. It was a great meeting and extremely informative for all parties.
My next meeting was with the Congressional aide from Representative Glenn Nye's office. It was wonderful to speak one-on-one with her. She also informed me that Representative Nye would be supportive of this bill; in fact, she said that with the information given to her, she was going to write a brief and present it to Representative Nye. It was exciting to hear that he is also lending support to other health initiatives within the state.
By using my patients and their stories, as well my own struggles with breastfeeding, I was able to give a “face” to those women who struggle to breastfeed after returning to the workforce. Through these personal stories, I was able to highlight the importance of this bill for countless mothers all over the country. It was a great feeling, and sense of accomplishment, that my meetings on Capitol Hill could really make an impression on those Congressional aides with whom I met. Many of us developed a sense of camaraderie, as well, because we were all working towards a common goal.
A couple of weeks after our lobbying day, we received promising news from the District of Columbia Breastfeeding Coalition. Senator Merkley offered the Breastfeeding Promotion Act as an amendment to the Senate Health Committee Health Care Reform Bill, where it was accepted! Although this is no guarantee for the bill, this is a huge step in the right direction.
We will continue to keep everyone informed about the Breastfeeding Promotion Act as it moves through the Congressional process. I thoroughly enjoyed being involved in this component of the legislative process and look forward to future lobbying and advocacy efforts.