Public Act 097-0713
 
HB4968 EnrolledLRB097 18751 DRJ 65112 b

    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