MOms who pumped while babe in hospital - lactivism needed!

[Janice in Canada]

This was posted to Lactnet today- letters are needed from Californians, and from moms who pumped thier own milk for thier infant while in hospital, for this important legislation! I'm not in CA, but I wanted to pass this along.
Janice



We are battling time, now - as a bill we thought was totally safe and about
to be approved was "lost in the system" - it would have removed the
requirements that hospitals become tissue banks if they were storing
mother's milk for her own baby. (If you want more details, please e-mail me
directly.

Due to this snafu, we are needing NEW letters of support for Senate Bill 246
to be sent to the California legislators ASAP!!! (If those of you who are
NOT from California choose to write to our legislators and let them know
that this is totally appropriate/evidence-based, that would be fine..)

You can read the ammended bill, which was one that was "gutted" and amended
to include the wording of the old bill at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_02010250/sb_246_bill_20060608_amended_asm.pdf


Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, PHN, IBCLC
jeanette.panchula@SBCGLOBAL.NET
Vacaville, CA, USA

[Janice in Canada]

In November, 2005, hospitals were informed that they needed to comply with California Health and Safety Code, Chapter 4.1 on Tissue Banks if they were to collect, store or distribute human milk. In this chapter “tissue” is defined as “…blood, other fluids, …” and “Transplantation” includes “ingestion.” “Human milk” is referred to in this code in §1639.5.(b) and §1647.

The “Tissue Bank License Application” which can be downloaded from: http://www.dhs.ca.gov/publications/forms/pdf/lab172.pdf requires paying a $975 fee and attaching policies and procedures. A specific license for human milk is required by hospitals, even those who already have a tissue bank license for other organs.

In discussing this situation the California Breastfeeding Advisory Committee members reported a concern that this may become a barrier to providing mother’s milk for mother’s own baby. At the same time, they are aware that it is important to have in place policies and procedures for the safe collection, storage and distribution of human milk, especially milk provided by human milk banks that has been collected, treated, stored and will be distributed to babies whose mothers, for whatever reason, were unable to provide their own milk for their own babies.

Currently all hospitals need to comply with the application for the Tissue Bank regulation. However, there is an effort to have a new regulation in place as soon as possible that will be more appropriate to the situation and that will also allow for changing knowledge and science related to human milk processing.

In order to assist hospitals to comply with the current regulation, they are being informed of two resources that provide evidence-based information:
 Human Milk Banking Association of North America: www.hmbana.org
o Their “Best Practice for Expressing, Storing and handling Human Milk in Hospitals, homes and Child Care Settings” of 2005 can be ordered at: www.hmbana.org/index.php?mode=pubs
 California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative: www.cpqcc.org.
o Free downloading is available of pdf files on:
“Nutritional Support for the Very Low Birth Weight Infant Part II, Section IV (http://www.cpqcc.org/Documents/NutritionToolkit/NutriDoc2/Section%20IV.pdf)

The California Department of Health Services supports feeding babies their own mother’s milk, and if this is not available, that donor human milk be utilized where appropriate. CDHS requires that hospitals collect, store and distribute this fluid in the safest way possible in order to prevent contamination and spoilage that could affect the health of the most vulnerable infants.

It is hoped that the process to clarify these regulations be expedited, while at the same time consulting experts in the field to avoid creating a confusing or inappropriate regulation.

6/9/07 update:

The California Hospital Association, through the able leadership of Sheree Kruckenberg, responded to requests by various hospitals, Breastfeeding Coalitions and others and approached Senator Liz Figueroa who submitted a bill to change the requirements that required all hospitals that stored human milk to become Tissue Banks. This bill, SB 1785 was described as:

SB 1785, as amended, Figueroa. Human milk.

Existing law provides that the procurement, processing, distribution, or use of human milk for human consumption constitutes the rendition of a service, and not a sale of the human milk for any purpose.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of tissue banks by the State Department of Health Services.

This bill would require a hospital that collects, processes, stores, or distributes human milk collected from a mother exclusively for her own child to comply with specified standards until or unless the department approves alternative standards. It would also exempt a hospital from the tissue bank licensure and regulation requirements for the purpose of collecting, processing, storing, or distributing human milk collected from a mother exclusively for her own child. The bill would exempt from any screening test requirement human milk collected from a mother exclusively for her own child.

This bill would specify that it does not apply to any hospital that collects, processes, stores, or distributes milk from human milk banks or other outside sources.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2⁄3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.

This bill can be read in its entirety at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1751-1800/sb_1785_bill_20060516_amended_sen.pdf

Many letters of support were garnered from hospitals, Breastfeeding Coalitions, physicians, etc. – written to Senator Figueroa and to other California legislators urging their support. The bill passed through various committees and was on its way to be approved, when it was side-lined due to overcrowding of the schedule at the end of the legislative session.

Upon realizing this, Senator Figueroa used a previously passed but now “gutted” bill to re-submit the contents of SB 1785 into SB 285.

Now, in order to continue this bill it is imperative that letters again be sent to legislators urging their support of SB 285 (which can be read by downloading it from:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_0201-0250/sb_246_bill_20060608_amended_asm.pdf

Names and addresses of legislators can be found by going to: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

Senator Liz Figueroa’s Address is: State Capitol, Room 4061, Sacramento, CA 95814
Sheree Kruckenberg would also like a copy of your letters: California Hospital Association, 1215 K Street, Suite 800, Sacramento, CA 95814