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Accomplishments

Child’s Right to Nurse Law

WV Child’s Right to Nurse Passed March 8, 2014, by the WV Legislature:

That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-1-19, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 1. STATE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM.

§16-1-19. Child’s right to nurse; location where permitted; right protected.
(a) The Legislature finds that breastfeeding is an important, basic act of nurturing that is protected in the interests of maternal and child health.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, a mother may breast feed a child in any location open to the public.

“Ban the Bags”

In 2018, West Virginia joined only a few other states that had “banned the bags.” Meaning, that all maternity hospitals in the state no longer distribute complimentary formula gift bags containing cans of formula, coupons, and other advertising. For years, infant formula companies have provided new mothers with these gift bags when they left the hospital. By distributing the gift bags, health care providers appeared to promote formula over breastfeeding. Today, West Virginia celebrates an important public health milestone for improved newborn health and well-being.

Research has shown that the free bags increase formula sales and decrease the duration of breastfeeding. Eliminating these gift bags is a nationwide effort supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Ban the Bags campaign originated through the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition. Rhode Island was the first state to eliminate the bags in 2011, followed by Massachusetts in 2012, the cities of Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2014, Delaware and Maryland in 2015, and then New Hampshire in 2016.