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Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 42
BY SENATOR BROOME
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To acknowledge the role of optimal infant nutrition during the first year of life and that new
mothers require information, guidance, and support to provide the best nutritional
start for their babies and to urge the Department of Health and Hospitals to facilitate
public-private collaboration with families and communities to increase maternal and
infant nutrition awareness, particularly in underserved areas, and provide access to
nutritional programs for mothers and their children beginning in utero and
throughout their first year of life.
WHEREAS, scientific research demonstrates that good nutrition beginning in utero
and extending throughout the first year of life is critical to the healthy growth and
development of infants and that breastfeeding is the best form of infant nutrition by
providing certain health benefits for both the mother and child; and
WHEREAS, the United States Surgeon General and the American Academy of
Pediatrics recommend babies be exclusively fed with breast milk for the first six months of
life, and continue with breast milk through the first year of life; and
WHEREAS, Healthy People 2020, an initiative that comprises science-based,
ten-year national objectives to improve the health of all Americans, administered under the
United States Department of Health and Human Services, aims to increase the percentage
of women initiating breastfeeding to 81.9 percent and still continuing to breastfeed when
their newborn is six months of age to 60.6 percent; and
WHEREAS, it is a mother's choice how she feeds her baby, and the choice is often
made based on the best feeding option for her infant given her and her family's life
circumstance, including familial, cultural, and community issues as well as based on barriers
to breastfeeding, including returning to work, medical difficulties, and lack of breastfeeding
support; and SCR NO. 42 ENROLLED
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WHEREAS, The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding, the
American Academy of Pediatrics, and other public health organizations do promote
breastfeeding goals, and some go beyond to promote other dietary guidance for feeding an
infant under age two and identify what a mother should do if she cannot or chooses not to
breastfeed or needs to supplement breastfeeding; and
WHEREAS, an example of this is provided in the United States Department of
Agriculture Food & Nutrition Service publication, "Feeding Your Baby in the First Year",
which gives participants in the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) food program a basic
overview of the best sources of nutrition for their babies in the first year, starting with
breastfeeding, including infant formula if needed, followed with the introduction of solid
foods; and
WHEREAS, infant nutrition research has generated a range of iron-fortified infant
formulas (as well as specialized infant formulas for premature babies and for those babies
with medical conditions needing sustenance to survive and thrive) that address a critical need
in providing a safe and nutritious alternative to breast milk for mothers who are unable to
breastfeed.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana acknowledges
the role of optimal infant nutrition during the first year of life and that new mothers require
information, guidance, and support to provide the best nutritional start for their babies.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana recognizes
scientific research documenting that breastfeeding is the best form of infant nutrition and
supports breastfeeding promotion policies, and that when maternity patients choose a method
of infant feeding or medical needs necessitate a certain method, mothers shall be fully
supported and counseled, whether exclusively breastfeeding, using donor milk, exclusively
formula feeding, or breastfeeding and supplementing with pumped breast milk, donor milk
and/or infant formula.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana urges the
Department of Health and Hospitals to facilitate public-private collaboration with families
and communities to increase maternal and infant nutrition awareness, particularly in
underserved areas, and provide access to nutritional programs for mothers and their children SCR NO. 42 ENROLLED
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beginning in utero and throughout their first year of life.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES