Policy Priorities
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Anytime, Anywhere
Anytime, Anywhere
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- All personnel are provided with training on why and how to support breastfeeding/bodyfeeding by patrons and visitors to their establishment.
- Breastfeeding/bodyfeeding is expected and encouraged in all places.
- Financial penalties apply anytime in any public space breastfeeding/bodyfeeding is not permitted.
- Milk expression and private breastfeeding/bodyfeeding spaces are readily available and optional to use.
- Breastfeeding/bodyfeeding families are welcome in all spaces without question.
- Written policy is publicly available to all who enter an establishment.
Birth Justice
Birth Justice
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- All inpatient and outpatient birthing care organizations provide all personnel with training to support breastfeeding/bodyfeeding.
- Equitable compensation for birth and breastfeeding/bodyfeeding professionals is based on the levels of clinical skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions involved in doing the work.
- Birth and breastfeeding/bodyfeeding support are offered at low/no cost to families and families have access to financial aid when they need it.
- Birth and breastfeeding/bodyfeeding care teams are multidisciplinary and meet the following criteria:
- Racially and ethnically representative of the families they serve
- Skilled in adhering to the cultural traditions of each family they serve
- Trauma-informed
- Center the families they serve
- Communicate with each other to coordinate care and optimize families’ health outcomes
- IBCLC is a stand-alone credential that does not require significant financial burden to obtain.
- A multitude of birthing locations and resource options are available to each family, including homebirth, birth centers, and hospitals and costs do not limit choices among families.
- Milk expression education and supplies – e.g. pumps and equipment – are easily accessed, equitably distributed, and offered at low/no cost to the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent. Access to financial aid is available when parents need it.
- Milk sharing programs are readily accessible, honor the cultural traditions of the milk donor and milk recipient, and are offered at low/no cost to families. Access to financial aid is available when families need it.
- Birth spaces and birthing center policy recognize the importance of support persons for the laboring parent without restrictions or hardship.
- Parents and newborns are kept together in critical hours after birth, including during crises and emergencies.
- Postpartum policies support bonding time to help parents and infants to establish breastfeeding/bodyfeeding without intrusion by unnecessary staff or procedures.
- Families have access to birth and/or postpartum doula support that is easily accessed and free of financial burden to the family.
- Medicare for all is guaranteed.
Child Care
Child Care
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- All staff are trained to support breastfeeding/bodyfeeding and provide expressed human milk to children in their care.
- Parents and staff are encouraged to breastfeed/bodyfeed on site at drop-off, pick up, and during intervals throughout the day as mutually agreed.
- When a parent cannot be onsite for breastfeeding/bodyfeeding:
- Human milk is provided to the child during all meals and snacks, using “paced feeding” method
- Human milk is handled according to CDC guidelines
- Space is created for parents and staff to breastfeed/bodyfeed and/or express milk that is accessible throughout the day.
- Workers are allowed the time required to breastfeed/bodyfeed and/or express human milk and are not penalized for not working.
- Breastfeeding/bodyfeeding information, referrals, and community resources are readily available for families seeking support.
- On-site child care is provided at all places of employment.
- Child care does not require significant financial burden for families.
Child Custody
Child Custody
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- Child custody laws protect the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding relationship between parent and child for at least two years of life or until agreed upon by the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent.
- All judicial, court, and Friend of the Court personnel are educated to prioritize protection of the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding relationship.
- Friend of the Court provides both the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding and non breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent with evidence-based breastfeeding/bodyfeeding resources and referrals to skilled lactation support.
- Materials on breastfeeding/bodyfeeding along with community resources are readily available to families.
- Children are welcome at proceedings to ensure that breastfeeding/bodyfeeding is not interrupted.
Courts
Courts
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- All personnel are trained on why and how to support breastfeeding/bodyfeeding and milk expression.
- Accommodations for virtual court proceedings are provided whenever possible.
- When a virtual proceeding is not possible:
- Children are allowed onsite with breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent.
- Space is provided to express milk that is readily accessible.
- All courtroom personnel – from judges to security – are educated and able to support breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent.
- A breastfeeding/bodyfeeding-affirming policy is publicly shared with every person visiting the judicial space.
Education
Education
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- Elementary through high school: breastfeeding/bodyfeeding education is part of health and sex education curriculum through established health and sex education standards that include breast anatomy and physiology and function, including the composition and nutritious value of human milk.
- College and beyond: All health-related courses (e.g. anatomy, physiology, biology, etc.) include education on breastfeeding/bodyfeeding and breast/chest anatomy for students.
- All personnel and students have access to childcare on-site, free of financial burden (see “child care” campaign for additional policy guidance).
- University courses include specific breastfeeding/bodyfeeding education as required education for all health professions.
- Colleges and universities have space available to breastfeed/bodyfeed and/or express human milk that are accessible and convenient for everyone on campus.
- Data collection, reporting, and dissemination is decolonized and centered in respect for the traditions, customs, and cultures of the communities where information is learned.
- Free college tuition is guaranteed for all.
Emergencies
Emergencies
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- All personnel (e.g. first responders, volunteers, and emergency shelter staff) are trained on why and how to support breastfeeding/bodyfeeding and milk expression.
- Community-centered and culturally relevant breastfeeding/bodyfeeding education and referrals are provided to families.
- Families are kept together without separating infants and children from their families.
- Access to human milk is widely available within multiple settings, including NICU, hospital, birth center, and the community with an emphasis on providing milk to families that are most harmed by current policy, and during emergencies/disasters.
- Families have access to virtual skilled lactation support, if desired, including increased access to the internet and HIPAA-compliant telehealth platforms.
- All breastfeeding/bodyfeeding people are supported to continue breastfeeding/bodyfeeding and/or milk expression without delay or interruption.
- Hand expression is taught and supported to maintain lactation without electricity.
- Donations of human milk substitutes are not accepted and/or distributed to families during emergencies/disasters.
- Equitable access to human donor milk is a priority for families during emergencies/disasters.
- The US system of commodifying land degradation through capitalism is abolished and replaced.
- Reparations are paid to descendants of enslaved Africans.
- Reparations are paid and land is returned to Indigenous people.
Foster
Foster
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- Whenever possible, children are not forcibly separated from their breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent.
- When child and breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent are separated:
- Breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent is supported, with supplies and courier service (e.g. Mama’s Mobile Milk) to provide human milk to their child at low/no cost.
- Foster parent is trained on why and how to provide human milk, via paced feeding, to the child.
- Fostering agreements require that human milk is provided by the foster parent. Penalties for failure to do so range from termination of the foster relationship to termination of licensure.
- Human milk is handled by the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent, courier, and foster parent according to CDC guidelines.
- The US systems of family separation are abolished and replaced.
Health Care
Health Care
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- All health care providers are aware of the positive impact breastfeeding/bodyfeeding has on health outcomes in their specialization and are skilled at protecting breastfeeding/bodyfeeding in their care plans, including during medical intervention.
- All healthcare providers utilize a referral system that supports families to find culturally relevant, skilled care rooted in their communities.
- All health care providers have written policies in place that are publicly shared to ensure breastfeeding/bodyfeeding is protected within their offices and provide education to staff for supporting breastfeeding/bodyfeeding families.
- All health care spaces encourage and promote breastfeeding/bodyfeeding for those visiting and/or undergoing procedures (for example, the emergency department, outpatient offices, specialty clinics).
- All health care providers have access to and utilize current evidence-based information for human milk and medications compatibility.
Incarceration
Incarceration
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- All personnel are trained on why and how to support breastfeeding/bodyfeeding, milk expression, and milk courier service.
- Deferred sentencing or commutation to a different type of service (e.g. classes, etc.), where baby can safely be with breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent, is an explicit option for breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parents.
- When commutation and/or deferral are not possible:
- Baby stays at jail with the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent (e.g. Illinois example).
- Milk expression with milk courier (e.g. Mama’s Mobile Milk) is arranged for the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent.
- Medical care to the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent is provided by a skilled lactation professional to prevent and/or treat any lactation concerns.
- Visitors have space to breastfeed/bodyfeed and/or express human milk without penalty during visitation with incarcerated people.
- The US carceral system is abolished and replaced.
Mental Health Care
Mental Health Care
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- Providers know the positive correlation between breastfeeding/bodyfeeding and mental health and the negative correlation between weaning and mental health and speak to patients about the importance of breastfeeding for positive mental health outcomes.
- Patients are central in all decision-making about the course of treatment. They are provided clear, evidence-based, and complete information about the risks of pursuing treatment options and risks of not breastfeeding/bodyfeeding.
- Providers use data-driven resources like Medications and Mothers’ Milk and/or LactMed to make decisions regarding courses of treatment and use of medications in ways that protect and prioritize the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding relationship.
- Providers are clear on the mental health implications of at least: Weaning, Miscarriage, Birth trauma, and Infant loss.. Patients are screened for each of these, and treatment plans are developed accordingly.
- Skilled lactation support is part of the care team and/or direct referrals are made to skilled lactation care in the community where the patient lives.
- mibreastfeeding.org/coalition is an available resource for connecting with breastfeeding supporters in your patient’s community.
- Staff at all levels and professions within the mental health care team reflect and represent the intersectional diversity of the patients they serve (e.g. Black, Indigneous, Latinx, LBGTQIA, non-native English speaking).
- When working with patients prenatally and interconception, providers educate patients about the mental health benefits of doula care and refer patients to doulas in their community who reflect and represent the racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the patient.
Workplace
Workplace
MIBFN is working towards a breastfeeding supportive culture where:
- All personnel are trained on why and how to support breastfeeding/bodyfeeding and milk expression and on breastfeeding accommodations available to employees.
- Accommodations are provided for virtual/remote work situation whenever possible.
- When virtual/remote work situation is not possible:
- Employees are provided adequate time and space to express human milk regardless of legal status and employment classification without penalty.
- Employees have access to baby for direct breastfeeding/bodyfeeding in the workplace whenever possible.
- Comprehensive paid family leave legislation at the national level is adopted.
- Universal basic income is guaranteed for all.
- Federal minimum wage is guaranteed for all workers.
- Two years of paid family leave is provided to both the breastfeeding/bodyfeeding and non breastfeeding/bodyfeeding parent.