Dear Friends,
I wanted to say thank you to Maureen M, Kathleen A, and the ILCA BOD for
taking the time to share with all of us their views on the ILCA situation.
From the perspective of a new IBCLC (less than one year) and ILCA member
(five years) I feel I need to share just a few things.
For all of you who have been so important to the growth of our profession,
i.e., authors, ILCA officals, LLL officials, conference organizers, and
teachers, don't doubt for one minute what wide influence you DO have.
Remember, your teachings are GLOBAL.  You are my mentors and of great
importance to me but I also need ILCA for my professional credibility and
support.  It is very disconcerting to me to see my mentors and ILCA so
polarized.  Here is my simplistic plea! Please be kind and forgiving to
each other.  Please be careful when expressing your views over Lactnet.
Remember that what you say can be very damaging.  I am a strong believer in
freedom of speech, but please try not to alienate me from my professional
organization.
I do believe that LACTNET is an appropiate forum to discuss all
breastfeeding related issues, including ILCA issues, however, in order to
truly solve issues it is important to go right to the source. So clearly an
ILCA web site is an excellent idea.
Thank you all for your hard work and thought provoking posts.
Warmly,
Star Siegfried, RN,BA,IBCLC