Having an occasion to de-lurk is a good feeling...means I 'm getting
something done around here! I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has
had experience serving on or organizing a community task force that focuses
on breastfeeding.

Two other moms and I, with the assistance of one of our hospital nurses,
have started what we call the Mentoring Moms Peer Counseling Program in our
rural northern Minnesota community. (The nearest WIC office is over 100
miles away, thus we did not pursue a WIC peer program. We did, however, use
their training materials and support stuff.)  Thus far, the program is
going great guns. We have nearly 20 moms interested in mentoring, and the
birth educator at the hosptial has agreed to modify the birth class to
include a two-hour class on breastfeeding. Even got some $$ to buy Womanly
Art books for everyone and LLL tear sheets!

Our community is very isolated. The next nearest hospital is 60 miles away.
Eight docs practice at the clinic. Our hospital logs an average of 45
births a year--lots of really young moms. No nurse midwives within 250
miles. One lay midwife and one LC 110 miles away. In other words, medicine
is very traditional here, and new ideas are generally suspect. We do have
an active LLL in town. A hospital-administered survey found that nearly 90%
of mom's are BF at birth :-), but most are quitting within weeks--for
simple reasons like painful nipples, baby won't sleep, think there's not
enough milk.... Only a few BF at six months. One or two at a year.

This is a great opportunity--our community is so isolated that we can be
incredibly effective, if only we can turn the tides. It's clear that our
biggest job will be supporting long-term BF (such as it is). Our biggest
obstacle is the lack-of-enthusiasm-about-BF docs, the hospital's lack of BF
policy, and well-meaning nurses who think mom needs rest and give the
babies a bottle of glucose as she sleeps.

So we decided to hold a bi-annual BF task force meeting. Get everyone
together and try to sort things out, support one another, demonstrate the
need for better BF support and education. So far, tho, the docs in
particular are lukewarm at best. Hosptial staff and administration is
constantly afraid of "making moms feel bad."

Has anyone done anything like this?  Any advice?  Anyone worked on making a
rural community a breastfeeding-friendly community?  Email me privately if
you'd like.

Jana Studelska
Ely, Minnesota