Here is my letter to the USPS to see if they will consider making
a postage stamp or series of stamps for breastfeeding. I hope
this willinspire some of you to write a letter too.  Send us or me
your letters and I'll keep a file of them.
  Naomi Bar-Yam

Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
United States Postal Service
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW
Room 4474E
Washington, DC 20260-2437

Dear Members of the Advisory Committee,
I would like to propose a new U. S. postage stamp or series
of stamps to honor breastfeeding. While breastfeeding is, of course,
an age old practice among mothers and their babies, breastfeeding
also has an interesting political history. In fact, there are several
important events and anniversaries related to breastfeeding coming
up over the next three years that could be used to honor this practice,
its practitioners, and its many hard working advocates with a
commemorative stamp or set of stamps:
1. Each year the week of August 1-7 is designated at World
Breastfeeding Week. Festivals, educational programs and other
events are held throughout the United States and all over the world
to further people's knowledge of the importance of breastfeeding to
babies, mothers, families, society, and the world's ecology.
2. The year 2001 will mark the 45th anniversary of the
founding of La Leche League. La Leche League is now a world
wide volunteer, mother-to-mother breastfeeding support group that
has helped millions of women throughout the world breastfeed
successfully. The organization began with a group of seven mothers
in Chicago, IL in 1956.
3. The year 2001 will also mark the 20th and 10th
anniversaries of the WHO/UNICEF Code for Marketing Breastmilk
Substitutes and the Innocenti Declaration. In 1981 the World Health

Organization of the United Nations adopted the WHO/UNICEF
Code for Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes and in 1991 the
Innocenti Declaration reinforced the importance of breastfeeding and
the right of every women and child to experience its many medical,
social and personal benefits.
4. This year, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued
new guidelines recommending that new mothers breastfeed for at
least one year and encouraging physicians to promote breastfeeding
among their patients, in their communities and workplaces. This
AAP policy statement has brought the issue of the public health
importance of breastfeeding to the attention of the public as well as
the health and corporate communities.

I have worked in the field of maternal and child health as
breastfeeding counselor and advocate for the last ten years and have
birthed and nursed four children. What are the steps necessary to
propose and approve a new commemorative stamp?
I will be happy to offer whatever input I can regarding the
design of such a stamp or set of stamps.
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing
from you soon.

Sincerely,





Naomi Bar-Yam Ph.D.