ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN'S AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

ASSEMBLY, No. 3008

 

with committee amendments

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED:  OCTOBER 17, 2024

 

      The Assembly Community Development and Women's Affairs Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 3008.

      As amended, this bill requires every hospital that provides inpatient maternity services and every birthing center licensed in the State pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) to offer a person who has given birth at the hospital or birthing center: (1) at least one in-person, one-on-one consultation with a lactation counselor or consultant prior to that person’s discharge from the hospital or birthing center; or (2) lactation counseling or consultation with a lactation counselor or consultant conducted remotely through live voice communication, if appropriate.

     The counseling provided by the lactation counselor or lactation consultant is to be comprised of:  (1) breastfeeding education and support services, including educating the person who has given birth and the person’s family about the impact of breastfeeding and human lactation on health and what to expect in the normal course of breastfeeding; (2) advocacy for breastfeeding as the norm for feeding infants and young children; (3) breastfeeding support and encouragement in order to help the person who has given birth meet their breastfeeding goals; (4) the implementation of a lactation care plan for, and the provision of lactation education to, the person who has given birth including demonstration and instruction on how to breastfeed; (5) recommendations on assistive devices, including nipple shields and supplemental nursing systems, and how to use and purchase such devices; and (6) the distribution of informational literature on breastfeeding, including, but not limited to, information on the health benefits of breastfeeding.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2024-2025 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments delete subsection d. of section 1 of the bill, which provided that a hospital that assigns a lactation consultant to lactation support duties may not reassign the consultant to non-lactation related duties during the same hospital shift.