(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Hospital Infant Feeding Act.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “Perinatal unit” means a maternity and newborn service of the hospital for the provision of care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum and neonatal periods with appropriate staff, space, equipment, and supplies.

(2) “Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative” means the program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that recognizes hospitals that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding.

(3) “Model Hospital Policy Recommendations” means the most recently updated guidelines approved and published by the State Department of Public Health entitled, “Providing Breastfeeding Support: Model Hospital Policy Recommendations.”

(c) All general acute care hospitals and special hospitals, as defined in subdivisions (a) and (f) of Section 1250, that have a perinatal unit shall have an infant-feeding policy. The infant-feeding policy shall promote breastfeeding, utilizing guidance provided by the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative or the State Department of Public Health Model Hospital Policy Recommendations. The infant-feeding policy may include guidance on formula supplementation or bottlefeeding, if preferred by the mother or when exclusive breastfeeding is contraindicated for the mother or infant.

(d) The infant-feeding policy shall be routinely communicated to perinatal unit staff, beginning with hospital orientation, and shall be clearly posted in the perinatal unit or on the hospital or health system Internet Web site.

(e) The infant-feeding policy shall apply to all infants in a perinatal unit.

(f) This section shall become operative January 1, 2014.

(Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 511, Sec. 2. (SB 502) Effective January 1, 2012. Section operative January 1, 2014, by its own provisions.)