United States Lactation Consultant Association Announces
Yesterday, Kiran Saluja gave wonderful testimony at the hearing on child nutrition programs held by the House Committee on Education and Labor. You can read her testimony at the website below. She emphasized the importance of breastfeeding as well as how other segments of the health care system and community need to do their part to help improve breastfeeding rates.We need to follow-up on this and contact each member of this committee, adding our voice to urge Congress to act on the recommendations made by Kiran. Committee members are listed following the announcement. In our letter we should place emphasis on Kiran’s recommendations which are in bold in her testimony. A few appear below that you may wish to place special emphasis on. I would appreciate feedback on anything you send and any replies that you receive.
Sincerely
Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC, RLC
Director of Public Policy
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Healthy Families…Strong Communities…Bright Futures! |
| California WIC Speaker in Congress – Live Webcast !
Exciting news! California WIC leader Kiran Saluja, Deputy Director of PHFE WIC has been asked to testify about WIC and breastfeeding issues tomorrow in Washington DC. The House Committee on Education and Labor, chaired by WIC Champion George Miller (D-Concord) has scheduled a hearing on Tuesday, March 2, 2010, at 2:30 P.M. (EST) to discuss federal child nutrition programs – WIC, child care food, and school meals – that are up for Reauthorization. The hearing will be webcast live from the Education and Labor Committee website. The Hearing will focus on improving federal child nutrition programs as a key strategy in fighting childhood obesity, especially since First Lady Michelle Obama launched her Let’s Move campaign. Kiran will share success stories on WIC-led collaborations from California, and convey the critical role of that breastfeeding plays in improving health outcomes among a population that is disproportionately impacted by obesity and its consequences. After the hearing, visit the website to download the testimony and look at videos and pictures of Kiran in action! |
An important place to start to help WIC succeed in its breastfeeding support and promotion efforts would be to fix the breastfeeding – broken hospitals! While I recognize this may be beyond the purview of this Committee, I am compelled to ask you to work collaboratively with your colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee and Ways and Means Committee to pass legislation that requires that all hospitals that receive Medicaid funds adhere, at a minimum, to a set of model policies that do not sabotage breastfeeding, and at best initiate steps to become a Baby Friendly Hospital.
Thus another important way to help WIC promote and support breastfeeding, would be for the Committee in collaboration with your partners in Congress to make a determined effort to eliminate or sharply curb the blatant direct marketing of infant formula, which violates the WHO code and targets vulnerable low income women of color.
nutrition education and add such language (breastfeeding promotion and support) to each citation related to WIC for nutrition education in the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
b. Ensure that ALL federal programs serving families, in particular, but not limited to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Child Care and Adult Food Program are breastfeeding friendly and that the employees have, at a minimum, a clear understanding that breastfeeding mothers and babies will be supported.
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