About Us
The California Breastfeeding Roundtable (CBR) is a revitalization of the former Breastfeeding Promotion Advisory Committee (BPAC), which ended when the California Department of Health Services reorganized. The BPAC met quarterly for over ten years and was instrumental in publishing the ground-breaking report, Breastfeeding Investing in California’s Future, released by California Department of Health Services (DHS) in 1996; and then completely updated this important policy blueprint in 2007.
The 1996 policy blueprint led to important changes in state policy and organizational culture, including improved breastfeeding training for WIC and hospital staff, development and promotion of hospital breastfeeding model policies, public dissemination of hospital breastfeeding rates, creation of WIC breastfeeding peer counselor programs, improved Medi-Cal regulations for breastfeeding, and enacted legislation addressing breastfeeding in public, worksite lactation accommodation and regulation of mother’s milk in hospitals.
The 2007 updated report lays the policy and action groundwork for the California Breastfeeding Roundtable. The CBR will work on priority recommendations found in the report, and engage stakeholders in implementing key steps needed to close the gaps in breastfeeding for all California families.
To continue the momentum of the breastfeeding movement accomplishments, the California Department of Public Health is financially supporting the CBR, with sponsorship from four programs: Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Maternal Child and Adolescent Health (MCAH), Physical Activity and Nutrition (PAN), and Genetic Disease Screening.
The CBR is convened by the California WIC Association and the California Breastfeeding Coalition. Both organizations are closely aligned with the mission of the CBR and will staff and co-lead the group’s convening, and also assist in carrying out its substantive policy work. This public-private partnership will enable the CBR to be a creative and proactive presence in California public health and policy arena during a period of historic change.
The CBR membership consists of approximately 25 members of diverse backgrounds and cultures, representing different geographic areas of the state, drawn from the following categories: academia, health care providers and insurers, public health programs and officials, hospitals and hospital administrators, breastfeeding peer counseling programs, community based organizations, dental organizations, schools and medical/nursing schools, employers/labor, local breastfeeding coalitions, foundations, First 5, media/social marketing, and public advocacy.
The application period is closed at this time. The CBR steering committee will again be soliciting applications for service as a CBR member in spring of 2011.
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