As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to help families get off to a strong start by supporting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding for breastfeeding support programs.

The CDC Division of Nutrition Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) protects the health of Americans at every stage of life by encouraging regular physical activity, good nutrition, and preventing adult and childhood obesity. DNPAO helps hospitals improve maternity care practices that support breastfeeding and promotes breastfeeding support for families in worksites, child care settings, and communities. CDC funding is provided through the Fiscal Year 2020 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill (H.R. 2740).

I urge you to support:
• Increased funding to $114 M for CDC/DNPAO (H.R. 2740 currently includes $58.92 M for CDC/DNPAO)
• $10M for the CDC's Hospital Promoting Breastfeeding program (The current amount included in H.R. 2740)
• $71.95M to the CDC's REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) program (The current amount included in H.R. 2740)

Low rates of breastfeeding add more than $3 billion a year to medical costs for women and children in the United States. Although more than 80% of mothers start out breastfeeding, about 60% stop sooner than they planned. Policies, systems, and environmental factors that surround families have a significant impact on the breastfeeding experience. Appropriations for breastfeeding help build and strengthen critical programs and initiatives helping to ensure that parents who want to breastfeed get the support they need before birth, while in the hospital, and once they return home.

Federal funding for breastfeeding initiatives has been shown to provide a substantial and immediate return on investment. Since funding was first directed to support breastfeeding programs in FY2012, breastfeeding initiation has increased from 76.9 percent of infants born in 2012 to 83.2 percent of infants born in 2015, with exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months increasing from 16.3 percent to 24.9 percent.

Given the consistent and well-documented health, economic, and environmental benefits of breastfeeding, this is an investment that will continue to produce measurable dividends across the country and many times over for families, employers, and the government.Thank you for your careful consideration of the role that breastfeeding plays in giving families important and long-lasting health benefits that contribute to significant public health cost savings.

Find additional details and information about federal investments in breastfeeding at: http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/d/do/3157

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I encourage your leadership in bringing policymakers together to improve the landscape of care for our nation's breastfeeding families. I look forward to working with you to expand federal investments in breastfeeding.

As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to help families get off to a strong start by supporting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding for breastfeeding support programs.

The CDC Division of Nutrition Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) protects the health of Americans at every stage of life by encouraging regular physical activity, good nutrition, and preventing adult and childhood obesity. DNPAO helps hospitals improve maternity care practices that support breastfeeding and promotes breastfeeding support for families in worksites, child care settings, and communities. CDC funding is provided through the Fiscal Year 2020 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill (H.R. 2740).

I urge you to support:
• Increased funding to $114 M for CDC/DNPAO (H.R. 2740 currently includes $58.92 M for CDC/DNPAO)
• $10M for the CDC's Hospital Promoting Breastfeeding program (The current amount included in H.R. 2740)
• $71.95M to the CDC's REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) program (The current amount included in H.R. 2740)

Low rates of breastfeeding add more than $3 billion a year to medical costs for women and children in the United States. Although more than 80% of mothers start out breastfeeding, about 60% stop sooner than they planned. Policies, systems, and environmental factors that surround families have a significant impact on the breastfeeding experience. Appropriations for breastfeeding help build and strengthen critical programs and initiatives helping to ensure that parents who want to breastfeed get the support they need before birth, while in the hospital, and once they return home.

Federal funding for breastfeeding initiatives has been shown to provide a substantial and immediate return on investment. Since funding was first directed to support breastfeeding programs in FY2012, breastfeeding initiation has increased from 76.9 percent of infants born in 2012 to 83.2 percent of infants born in 2015, with exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months increasing from 16.3 percent to 24.9 percent.

Given the consistent and well-documented health, economic, and environmental benefits of breastfeeding, this is an investment that will continue to produce measurable dividends across the country and many times over for families, employers, and the government.Thank you for your careful consideration of the role that breastfeeding plays in giving families important and long-lasting health benefits that contribute to significant public health cost savings.

Find additional details and information about federal investments in breastfeeding at: http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/d/do/3157

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I encourage your leadership in bringing policymakers together to improve the landscape of care for our nation's breastfeeding families. I look forward to working with you to expand federal investments in breastfeeding.

As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to help families get off to a strong start by supporting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding for breastfeeding support programs.

The CDC Division of Nutrition Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) protects the health of Americans at every stage of life by encouraging regular physical activity, good nutrition, and preventing adult and childhood obesity. DNPAO helps hospitals improve maternity care practices that support breastfeeding and promotes breastfeeding support for families in worksites, child care settings, and communities. CDC funding is provided through the Fiscal Year 2020 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill (H.R. 2740).

I urge you to support:
• Increased funding to $114 M for CDC/DNPAO (H.R. 2740 currently includes $58.92 M for CDC/DNPAO)
• $10M for the CDC's Hospital Promoting Breastfeeding program (The current amount included in H.R. 2740)
• $71.95M to the CDC's REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) program (The current amount included in H.R. 2740)

Low rates of breastfeeding add more than $3 billion a year to medical costs for women and children in the United States. Although more than 80% of mothers start out breastfeeding, about 60% stop sooner than they planned. Policies, systems, and environmental factors that surround families have a significant impact on the breastfeeding experience. Appropriations for breastfeeding help build and strengthen critical programs and initiatives helping to ensure that parents who want to breastfeed get the support they need before birth, while in the hospital, and once they return home.

As you can see, monumental health and economic gains can be achieved through policy and practice changes that ensure American families have the support they need to reach their breastfeeding goals. Thank you for your careful consideration of the role that breastfeeding plays in giving families important and long-lasting health benefits that contribute to significant public health cost savings.

Find additional details and information about federal investments in breastfeeding at: http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/d/do/3157

As a member of the 116th Congress, I encourage your leadership in bringing policymakers together to improve the landscape of care for our nation's breastfeeding families. I look forward to working with you to expand federal investments in breastfeeding.