By Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam, PhD
The Massachusetts Pump Bill has reached a critical stage.
Both bills are now before Ways and Means Committees:
We are here because of you. Over the past several years, advocates, clinicians, and families across Massachusetts have written letters, shared testimony, and made calls to support this bill. That sustained advocacy has moved this legislation forward step by step. Thank you for helping bring it to this critical stage.
Now we need your help to get it across the finish line.
What the Massachusetts Pump Bill Does
The Massachusetts Pump Bill ensures that families of high-risk infants, including babies in NICUs, have insurance coverage for hospital-grade, multi-user double electric breast pumps.
These pumps are essential medical equipment when a baby cannot nurse directly and are critical to establishing and maintaining milk supply during a baby’s most vulnerable early days.
Why This Moment Matters
- Both bills have now cleared committee review and are before Ways and Means.
- Each Ways and Means Committee is deliberating over 1,000 bills. It is our job to ensure that they consider and vote out the pump bill.
- The bills are aligned and ready to move forward.
- A CHIA report (independent review) found the bill to be valuable and financially worthwhile.
Last session, Massachusetts made major progress with a strong maternal-child health law.
This bill is the next step to build on that progress.
Now we need Ways and Means to act so these bills reach the floor for a vote this session.
What You Can Do Now
1. Contact House Ways and Means.
Ask them to report H.4345 favorably to the House floor.
House Ways and Means template with email addresses
2. Contact Senate Ways and Means.
Ask them to report S.682 favorably to the Senate floor.
Senate Ways and Means template with email addresses
3. Contact your own Representative and Senator (click to find them and their email addresses).
Ask them to support the bill and to encourage Ways and Means to move it forward quickly. Even if your legislators do not serve on the Ways and Means Committee, your outreach shows this issue matters across Massachusetts.
Email template for your Representative and Senator
Tips
- Keep messages short; volume matters.
- Personal or professional experience adds impact.
- Phone calls are especially effective at this stage.
- Please cc advocacy@massbreastfeeding.org so we can track outreach and keep everyone updated.
Families of medically fragile babies have already waited through multiple legislative sessions. With your continued support, we can finish the work we started. This is the moment where advocacy can make the difference.
Like any marathon, the final mile is where our focus and collective effort matter most. Let’s cross the finish line—together.
Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam, PhD, has been working in maternal and child health for over 35 years as an educator, researcher, advocate, and writer. In addition to serving on the board of Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition, she is past president of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) and is the founding director emerita of Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, which provides safe donor milk to hospitals and families throughout the northeastern US. Learn more about her on her LactSpeak profile.
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