As a member of the Leadership Team of the US Breastfeeding Committee (USBC), I take great exception to Valerie's post regarding the nature of the USBC and its relationship with its member organizations. The USBC was formed to fulfill one of the 4 operational targets of the Innocenti Declaration, i.e., the formation of a national level breastfeeding committee. There are about 35 organizations who belong to the USBC, including a number of government agencies who deal with breastfeeding through their programs. It is vital that the breastfeeding community link with each other and well as government entities to push forward a breastfeeding agenda for the US. We may not always agree with policies that each organization has but this group has been able to provide input into breastfeeding issues at levels that can make a big difference to breastfeeding in the US. Through hard work and acting in a professional manner, we have been able to make some significant changes. An example of such change is the fact that the CDC now collects breastfeeding information in its National Immunization Survey. This was done to eliminate the government's use and reliance on Ross Products data for breastfeeding rates. The USBC is in dialogue with the FDA regarding the issue of domperidone. We have provided an in-service to the FDA on breast pumps, provided a statement at the Institute of Medicine's workshop on prevention of childhood obesity, developed guidelines for employers to assist in worksite lactation support, provided a luncheon on capitol hill to introduce breastfeeding and the USBC to legis lators. I find statements such as "boot this government organization off their committee" to be shortsighted, unprofessional, and lacking in understanding of how to cause change to happen. As NABA's representative to the USBC, I am insulted and disappointed in a post that is so utterly lacking in correct information and so vicious in its bashing, that its whole point seems to be to raise suspicion and work towards the destruction of breastfeeding advocacy from the inside. If anyone has any questions regarding the USBC, NABA, ILCA or any other organization, please contact the respective organization or myself if you wish to work together to make things better for all of our mothers and babies. Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC Weston, MA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html