Laura,

As one of those who began Breastfeeding USA, and is presently serving as a
member of the BOD, I think I can speak for our organization. As I am no
longer involved with LLLI, I cannot speak for them.

The mission of Breastfeeding USA is to provide evidence-based breastfeeding
information and support, and to promote breastfeeding as the biological and
cultural norm. In order to ensure that our counselors do offer
evidence-based breastfeeding information, we decided that it was important
to have a centralized education program for our counselors using a current
text - "Counseling the Nursing Mother" by Lauwers and Swisher with
"Breastfeeding Answers Made Simple" by Mohrbacher as the suggested
additional resource.  This education course is being written by experienced
lactation counselors, most of who are also IBCLCs. We also have a
requirement for documented continuing education that is necessary in order
for our Breastfeeding Counselors to maintain their accreditation with our
organization. We are trying to have a diversified counselor base that truly
represents a cross-section of this country's mothers while still fulfilling
our requirements. There is a lot of information about becoming a BfUSA
counselor on our website, breastfeedingusa.org.

We also promote breastfeeding as the biological and cultural norm. This
will involve advocacy for breastfeeding as sanctioned by the BOD of BfUSA.
We haven't gotten into this to a great degree yet as we are presently
focusing on firming up organizational policies and procedures and finishing
the comprehensive course for our prospective counselors. However, we hope
to be effective in the future in fulfilling this part of our mission.

We are dedicated to making sure that our organization is transparent and
responsive to the needs and ideas of its volunteers. The BOD is elected by
the voting members of the organization and these members can also attend
BOD meetings and ask questions. We post our financial reports on our
website. Our bylaws are posted as well. We are in the process of
solidifying our committees and how they operate. It has been exciting, and
sometimes difficult, to put all of the pieces together. We are learning
from our mistakes and getting stronger for it. We are making a lot of
progress on all fronts and are confident we will be around for a long time.

Once they have been accredited, we encourage our Breastfeeding Counselors
(BCs) to assess the needs of the mothers in their communities and be
creative in meeting those needs. We encourage them to seek out others in
the community who are serving the needs of these mothers so that they can
work in harmony.

While I cannot speak in any detail about the "differences" between BfUSA
and LLLI, I can speak broadly to those areas you might want to investigate
if you are truly interested in this. Look at basic organization, how the
BOD is elected, in how counselors are trained and then kept up to date, in
how counselors are supported. LLLI has a very strong parenting aspect that
is very appealing to some mothers while not so much for others. It is no
secret that there have been a lot of changes in LLLI over the past decade
and those changes are probably continuing, although I have no direct
knowledge of the details. Only LLL can truly give you the information you
are seeking. Go to their website, look at their mission and philosophy
statements and other information available about how they are organized,
how they accredit Leaders, etc. You can compare the information on our
website to what is on theirs.

Breastfeeding USA is about the modern American woman. She comes from any
number of geographical, ethnic, religious and philosophical backgrounds.
She is married/divorced/single. She may be a member of the LGBT community.
The possibilities are endless, But breastfeeding can be the link that ties
us all together. We do not see ourselves in competition with any other
breastfeeding support organizations, but working along side them to provide
the diversity that each community needs. In the end, mothers just want
someone who will listen to them, provide good information, and make them
feel welcome no matter where they are in their breastfeeding journey.

Sharon Knorr, BSMT, IBCLC
Breastfeeding USA Board of Directors
Breastfeeding USA Counselor


On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 3:29 PM, Felicia Henry <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> On a personal note about LLL and another group for breastfeeding support.
>  In our monthly LLL meetings we have many group moms to who go to 3 other
> breastfeeding support meetings in the area.  They all meet on different
> weeks of the month (most are the same day of the week, i.e. our LLL group
> meets the third Tuesday) and moms love go somewhere every week.  While I
> feel some of these groups make take away from League, I understand their
> place.  For moms who are really having problems being able to get support
> every week is a great help.
>
> Felicia Henry, BCCE, IBCLC & Leader
> Oxnard, CA
>
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