What's happening
This bill sets standards and requirements for human breast milk banks, especially for-profit ones, to ensure safety, education, and equitable distribution in New York.
Why it matters
Ensures safety and ethical standards. By requiring both nonprofit and for-profit breast milk banks to follow the Human Milk Banking Association of North America’s protocols (or stricter ones), the bill seeks to safeguard infants from unsafe or improperly handled milk.
Protects nursing mothers and their children. For-profit banks must delay milk collection until mothers are at least 180 days postpartum and cannot pay mothers until 28 days after milk is received, aiming to prevent exploitation and ensure mothers’ own children’s nutritional needs are prioritized.
Promotes equitable access for vulnerable infants. At least 50% of milk collected by for-profit banks in a locality must go to New York hospitals’ NICUs, local nonprofits, or foster/adoptive parents, helping ensure that medically fragile or underserved infants have access to safe breast milk.
Increases oversight and accountability. The bill mandates annual audits for for-profit banks, with penalties for non-compliance funding infant mortality prevention, thereby encouraging transparency and reinforcing public health goals.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Set Breast Milk Bank Standards
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to health
- Print number 47a
- Amend and recommit to health
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Regulate Breast Milk Banks
In Assembly Committee · Health · Sponsor Michaelle C. Solages
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
47--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 4, 2017
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring human breast milk banks, companies and cooperatives to comply with certain standards and to provide for education and support of certain breastfeeding mothers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2505-c to read as follows:
§ 2505-c. Breast milk banks. 1. Procuring, processing, storing, distributing and using human milk for the purpose of infant human consumption from a nonprofit human breast milk bank is a rendering of a service and not the sale of human milk for profit or financial gain.
2. A hospital or organization that collects, processes, stores, or distributes human milk either from a mother exclusively for her own child or from a mother to nourish a child other than her own shall comply with the standards, ethical practices and guidelines for collecting, processing, storing, or distributing human milk of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America unless the department approves alternate standards.
3. No screening test is required to be performed on human milk collected from a mother exclusively for her own child.
4. A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative that provides financial compensation or shares in stock for procuring, processing, distributing, or using human milk for the purpose of human consumption must comply with the standards, ethical practices and guidelines of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America or more
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04709-03-7
S. 47--A 2
stringent guidelines for safe procurement, processing, storing, or distribution of human breast milk.
5. (a) A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative working with breastfeeding mothers in this state can only accept milk from a mother who is at least one hundred and eighty days postpartum.
(b) A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative operating in this state cannot remit payment to a participating mother until at least twenty-eight days after receipt and acceptance of the expressed human breast milk.
6. A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative shall work with local, community-based lactation support groups to provide ongoing breastfeeding education and lactation support for its participating mothers to ensure that the needs of the nursing children of participating mothers are the priority and are adequately nourished by the mother's own breast milk.
7. A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative operating in this state shall ensure that, at a minimum, fifty percent of the human breast milk produced by participating mothers in a specific locality is distributed to hospitals in this state for the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit or to local nonprofit human breast milk banks to provide human breast milk for vulnerable premature or ill infants or for distribution to foster parents or adoptive parents in this state who wish to provide breast milk for their foster or adoptive newborn or infant children.
8. A for-profit human breast milk bank operating in this state shall conduct an annual audit, at its own expense, that clearly demonstrates whether or not the distribution of breast milk collected complies with the requirements of subdivision six of this section. The for-profit human breast milk bank shall submit a report with the findings of the audit to the department no later than January thirty-first, two thousand nineteen and every January thirty-first annually thereafter.
9. A for-profit human breast milk bank that does not comply with the provisions of subdivision eight of this section shall be responsible for a fine to be determined by the commissioner. The comptroller shall credit the money from such fines to the department for use in infant mortality prevention projects.
10. The provisions of this section shall not apply to mother-to-mother milk sharing groups.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date upon which it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring human breast milk banks, companies and cooperatives to comply with certain standards and to provide for education and support of certain breastfeeding mothers
Purpose or general idea of bill
To establish a regulatory, educational, and lactation support system for breast milk banks in New York State.
Summary of specific provisions
§ 2505-c. Breast milk banks.
Read the full memo (895 words)
1. Procuring, processing, storing, distributing and using human milk for the purpose of infant human consumption from a nonprofit human breast milk bank is a rendering of a service and not the sale of human milk for profit or financial gain.
2. A hospital or organization that collects, processes, stores, or distributes human milk either from a mother exclusively for her own child or from a mother to nourish a child other than her own shall comply with the standards, ethical practices and guidelines for collecting, processing, storing, or distributing human milk of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America unless the department approves alternate standards.
3. No screening test is required to be performed on human milk collected from a mother exclusively for her own child.
4. A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative that provides financial compensation or shares in stock for procuring, processing, distributing, or using human milk for the purpose of human consumption must comply with the standards, ethical practices and guidelines of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America or more stringent guidelines for safe procurement, processing, storing, or distribution of human breast milk.
5. (a) A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative working with breastfeeding mothers in this state can only accept milk from a mother who is at least one hundred and eighty days postpartum.
(b) A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative operat- ing in this state cannot remit payment to a participating mother until at least twenty-eight days after receipt and acceptance of the expressed human breast milk.
6. A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative shall work with local, community-based lactation support groups to provide ongoing breastfeeding education and lactation support for its participating mothers to ensure that the needs of the nursing children of participating mothers are the priority and are adequately nourished by the mother's own breast milk.
7. A for-profit human breast milk bank, company, or cooperative operating in this state shall ensure that, at a minimum, fifty percent of the human breast milk produced by participating mothers in a specific locality is distributed to hospitals in this state for the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit or to local nonprofit human breast milk banks to provide human breast milk for vulnerable premature or ill infants or for distribution to foster parents or adoptive parents in this state who wish to provide breast milk for their foster or adoptive newborn or infant children.
8. A for-profit human breast milk bank operating in this state shall conduct an annual audit, at its own expense, that clearly demonstrates whether or not the distribution of breast milk collected complies with the requirements of subdivision six of this section. The for-profit human breast milk bank shall submit a report with the findings of the audit to the department no later than January thirty-first, two thousand seventeen and every January thirty-first annually thereafter.
9. A for-profit human breast milk bank that does not comply with the provisions of subdivision eight of this section shall be responsible for a fine to be determined by the commissioner. The comptroller shall credit the money from such fines to the department for use in infant mortality prevention projects.
10. The provisions of this section shall not apply to mother-to-mother milk sharing groups.
Justification
Currently there is not a regulatory, educational, nor lactation support system for breast milk banks established by the State of New York. The regulation of human breast milk banks is critical to ensure the availability, quality control, and auditing of human breast milk. An educational mechanism is critical to ensure that the public is properly informed about the benefits that breast milk provides for the human growth and developmental benefits of infants throughout the development of the first few years of a young child's life. An educational mechanism is also critical to ensure proper methods of providing human breast milk to such children by means of direct breast feeding or nursing, wet nursing, collection and bottle feeding, schedule and timing of feeding, and any other necessary information regarding the use of, acquiring of, distribution of, and ingestion of human breast milk for infants throughout the optimal period for which such human breast milk is beneficial for optimal growth and development of infants and young children. A support system is critical to ensuring the proper and optimal practice of breast feeding or nursing, as well as encouraging and providing support for nursing mothers, breast milk providers, and surrogate parents who provide breast milk from breast milk banks to their foster, guardianship, or adopted child.
Prior legislative history
S.7569 of 2016 (Hoylman): Died in Health A.8512 of 2015-2016 (Solages): Died in Health
Fiscal implications
To be determined
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date upon which it shall have become a law.
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