Nikki asked:
Is there an e-mail newsletter or print/postal newsletter that goes out on a
frequent basis (at least monthly)  that summarizes all known breastfeeding
activity for the month (like published studies, breastfeeding legislation,
breastfeeding seen in the media, etc)?

Nikki,
I have thought of doing this, as part of the Moms For Milk Network.  It is
part of the many things that are in my vision of what a Breastfeeding
Advocacy group and website could do.  I already have over 600 email
addresses in my database, of which almost 400 are Canadians.

I have done this on a ad-hoc basis.  For example, I have sent out media
alerts to my Canadian contacts when major items featuring breastfeeding were
upcoming on TV or newspaper.  I have also summarized certain situations,
such as the recent Lancet study that showed bfing increased asthma and
allergies.  I listed the original Lancet study, several news articles that
showed how the media was carrying the story, the ABA press release refuting
the study, and listed some of the weaknesses of the study that were pointed
out here on Lancnet.  I sent this comprehensive email out to all my Cdn
contacts, which include many persons on the Breastfeeding Committee for
Canada, and other commitees, whom I know are sometimes too busy to keep up
with the media or research on a timely basis.  I heard that the summary was
much appreciated.

I see this type of email newsletter serving 2 purposes:

1. facilitating Rapid Response to emerging situations.  By alerting key
professionals and the executives of bfing committees/task forces of media
stories about bfing, and providing them with easy access to the original
story/research, ideas or research to refute it, and the contact information
for the media outlets, we could facilitate both professional and amatuer
advocates to quickly respond to the situation and counteract misinformation,
either in the media, with colleagues or supervisors, or with clients.
The key to this is balancing the need for information with the need to act
quickly.  These emails would need to go out ASAP.

2.  There could also be a simple summary of the past months/weeks bfing
news, as you mentioned, to help keep professionals up-to-date and in-touch,
and to educate "amatuers".

I would be interesting in assisting with something like this, as I am
already sort of doing it.  However, I would like to see an America take a
major role in this, as I have made a decision in the past year to focus my
advocacy role on Canada, since I have found that many major things that
affect breastfeeding rates are different between the two countries
(maternity leaves, public health system, attitudes toward NIP, obligation of
gov't to protect rights & provide services).

Please email me at [log in to unmask] to discuss possible partnership
or assistance on this.

Janice Reynolds
Moms For Milk Breastfeeding Network
Saskatchewan, Canada

             ***********************************************

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(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html