Public Act 0713 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4968 Enrolled LRB097 18751 DRJ 65112 b

Public Act 097-0713

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Hospital Infant Feeding Act.

Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative" means the voluntary program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) that recognizes hospitals that meet certain evaluation criteria regarding the promotion of breastfeeding.

"Department" means the Department of Public Health.

"Hospital" has the meaning ascribed to that term in the Hospital Licensing Act.

"Infant nutrition resource" means breastfeeding education and infant formula safety and preparation.

Section 10. Infant feeding policy required.

(a) Every hospital that provides birthing services must adopt an infant feeding policy that promotes breastfeeding. In developing the policy, a hospital shall consider guidance provided by the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.

(b) An infant feeding policy adopted under this Section shall include guidance on the use of formula (i) for medically necessary supplementation, (ii) if preferred by the mother, or (iii) when exclusive breastfeeding is contraindicated for the mother or for the infant.

Section 15. Communication of policy. A hospital shall routinely communicate the infant feeding policy to staff in the hospital's obstetric and neonatal areas, beginning with hospital staff orientation. The hospital shall also ensure that the policy and infant nutrition resources are posted (i) in a conspicuous place in the hospital's obstetric or neonatal area or (ii) on the hospital's Internet or Intranet web site or on the Internet or Intranet web site of the health system of which the hospital is a part. The hospital shall make copies of the policy available to the Department upon request.

Section 20. Application of policy. A hospital's infant feeding policy adopted under this Act must apply to all mother-infant couplets in the hospital's obstetric and neonatal areas.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2013.

Effective Date: 1/1/2013