Budget bills before the Michigan Senate this week include money to pay for 16,000 breast pumps to help poor mothers breastfeed newborn babies. The $2 million dollar provision was approved in a conference committee today.
“It’s just so important for the babies,” says bill sponsor Senator Goeff Hanson (R-Hart). “The best possible food that they can have.”
Hansen says that should help working mothers who are on Medicaid.
He represents several lakeshore counties, including Mason and Muskegon. He says in Muskegon most new mothers are on Medicaid and just 63 percent of families report breastfeeding.