December 23, 2024

​​​​Hospital Compliance to §123367 effective January 1, 2025

Content

This letter is in reference to California Health and Safety Code Section 123367 (HSC § 123367) that requires all general, acute care hospitals and specialty hospitals with a perinatal unit to adopt, by January 1, 2025, the “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding" as adopted by Baby-Friendly USA, per the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, or an alternate process adopted by a health care service plan that includes evidence-based policies and practices and targeted outcomes, or the Model Hospital Policy Recommendations.

In 2022, the California Department of Public Health/Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Division (CDPH/MCAH) updated the Providing​ Breastfeeding Support: Model Hospital Policy (MHP) Recommendations, a model framework intended to allow hospitals to modify and construct policies and procedures best suited for their facility  that can be incorporated into standard parent-baby care practices.​

Since breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months is the community standard for infant feeding in California, the CDPH/MCAH Breastfeeding Initiative aims to ensure that hospitals implement an infant feeding policy. CDPH/MCAH monitors in-hospital infant feeding practices utilizing in-hospital data about initiation rates. The data are posted on the Breastfeeding Initiation Dashboard.

Compliance with California Health and Safety Code §123367 will assure utilization of evidence-based hospital breastfeeding policies and practices associated with improvements in breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity, and duration.

To assist you in developing policies and procedures to support exclusive breastfeeding, please see the attached graphic and additional resources list. Incorporating evidence-based, breastfeeding policies will ensure your hospital's compliance with legislation requiring hospitals with perinatal units to have policies and practices that support breastfeeding (California Health & Safety Codes §123366 and §123367). 

Working together we can take steps toward a more breastfeeding-friendly hospital environment and ultimately improve the health of generations of Californians. For additional information on breastfeeding support, visit the CDPH Breastfeeding website​ at cdph.ca.gov/breastfeeding. For any additional questions, please submit questions to NUPAMailbox@cdph.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

 ​​Original signed by Sydney Artmendariz​

Sydney Armendariz, Director
Maternal Child and Adolescent Health
California Department of Public Health​

Attachments

• Facility Plans to Meet Model Hospital Policies​
  
• Resources and Technical Assistance for Developing Hospital Policies that Support Breastfeeding​​

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