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Community Corner

Insurance Guidelines May Help Breastfeeding Mothers

Affordable Care Act provides for more preventative care and assistance for moms who nurse.

Big news for pregnant and nursing mothers: The government is making it easier for women to receive maternity benefits, lactation support and the rental of hospital grade breastpumps through the expansion of Affordable Care Act effective at the beginning of this month.

The new guidelines adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services, require new health insurance plans to cover women’s preventative services. Well visits and lactation support are among the items on a list of preventative services under these guidelines. 

“The Affordable Care Act helps stop health problems before they start,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.  “These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need.”

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This is a positive move forward for all those mothers who need support and encouragement in the hospital when their frustration with breastfeeding might otherwise lead them to choose formula over breastmilk. Likewise, the rental of a hospital grade breastpump makes it easier for women to choose to breastfeed even if they have to return to work.     

"While 75 percent of women initially breastfeed their baby, after six months only 43 percent are still breastfeeding at all," wrote Valerie JarretChair of the White House Council on Women and Girls. "One of the most common reasons mothers cited for discontinuing breastfeeding is returning to work and not having break time or a private space to express milk.”  

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Of course, the optimal breastfeeding environment is allowing your infant access on demand but with about one third of women returning to work either part of full-time within the first six months after birth, making it easier to keep breastfeeding is step in the right direction.

When a high quality Medela pump runs about $300, and a hospital grade even more, it is no wonder that some moms bag the whole notion that they can breast feed their child and go back to work.

As of March 23, 2010, the ACA required certain employers to give nursing mothers break time and a private designated area, not a bathroom, to express milk for their baby’s first year. Republicans had lobbied for its repeal.

At the time, the loudest cry came from Rep. Michele Bachman, R- Minn., "This is very consistent with where the hard left is coming from, for them, government is the answer to every problem." 

In February, when the IRS made breastpumps deductible under the tax code, Bachman again harshly criticized this administration, calling its healthcare reform an attempt to form a “nanny state.”

For so many women and nursing mothers, this series of reforms comes as a source of relief and makes the option of following pediatrician’s recommendations to breastfeed their infants easier. 

The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends mothers exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months and continue to breastfeed while foods are introduced within the first year of life. Many women choose to continue breastfeeding through the toddler years. 

The HSS and AAP agree that breastfeeding benefits baby’s development and immune system as well as decreases occurrence of diabetes, childhood obesity and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. 

The bottom line: Women who receive preventative care before, during and after labor tend to raise healthier babies.

“The Council also recognizes that women’s issues do not exclusively affect women,” wrote Jarrett, “They have an impact on the entire family. When more women are able to stay healthy, it means more parents will be able to care for their children. It also means a more productive workforce, which will benefit employers and employees alike.”

These reforms are far from the “nanny state” Bachman believes may emerge with the expansion of affordable healthcare and preventative services for women. It is time that the women of this country finally get taken care off in a manner befitting their role as care-givers.

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