(I apologize if this is a duplicate post...but since the switch in servers,
I am not receiving confirmation when I send a post ~kgc)
 
Oh, darn!  I *knew* I would have to defend my position...and to a 'great'
like D.W., to boot (picture a scared smiley here  ;~>)
 
Diane, you are preching to the converted.  I AM a LLLL and I understand
intimately the need for role models and mother to mother support.  I KNOW
that the reason I am so good at what I do and am so passionate about
breastfeeding for the long term is because I started out as an LLLL (no
offence to non-LLLL LC's).
 
I *so* get this.
 
BUT.  
 
I am sorry to say, it is not enough to increase breastfeeding statistics in
the drastic way that I believe they can and should be increased, here in my
country of Canada, in the USA, and likely all around the world.  Why?
 
1.  LLL is only available for the women who *choose* to use it's services
(meeting, phone counselling, etc.) regardless of if the service was
recommended to her or if she found out about it herself.  It is not enough.
 
2.  LLL does not provide enough Leaders in every community to truly serve
the needs of EVERY mother and child.  Think about it:  In my community there
are two active LLL groups...with I think 3 active Leaders and a host of
supporting Leaders.  If memory serves me correctly, average attendence for
both groups is about 12 mothers.  That's 12 x 12 months which equals 144
mothers x two groups which equals 288 mothers.  Now then, we know that not
all of those mothers will be NEW to the group...many of them are repeats.
So, let's be generous here and assume that 20% of the 288 are NEW...so...in
any given year the two groups in my community act as role models for a grand
total of about 30 mothers.  And that is in a community where approximately
*4000* babies are born every year.  It is not enough.
 
3.  The very mothers who are most at risk for weaning early (or not even
initiating breastfeeding) are the very ones who likely will *never* set foot
in a La Leche League meeting, regardless of whether or not they have been
informed.  I'm thinking ethnic, low-income, and teen mothers, for example.
Are those mothers to be denied regular, maintenance 'flossing' just because
they don't wish to sit in a room with a bunch of others discussing how and
when to feed baby, nurse in public, or how to be intimate with your partner
during lactation etc.?  It is not enough.
 
4.  We live in a medical-model culture, not a role-model culture.  The
majority of women receive information and health care counselling from
professionals who work within the medical-model, and it does not appear to
me that this will change anytime soon.  LLL and the like are not enough.
 
5.  The health care community will never treat LLLL's on an equal footing
because they are *volunteers* (please, ladies...I mean no offense - this is
just a fact and one that I understand well:  "Are you an LC?"  was a common
refrain from the PHN's and doctors I come in contact with)...and without
being taken seriously by a women's health care providers, there can be no
sharing of information and no respect when different opinions occur.
(Though I am wearing my flame-retardant suit, I would appreciate it if y'all
could refrain from throwing fire darts my way!)  I am not saying that LLL
hasn't made tremendous headway - please...they are the reason behind it ALL
- and that some communities don't have great relationships with the local
Leaders...I know that they do...but...It is not enough.
 
Frankly, I think that offering every single child-bearing woman her own
IBCLC for lactation management in the same way she is offered proper medical
care for pregnancy will naturally INCREASE attendance at LLL meetings.  My
plan is not to render LLL and it's Leaders as redundant, but to work more
closely with them in lactation management for EVERY SINGLE CHILD BEARING
WOMAN.
 
I hope that in so doing, more women will attend meetings, more members will
become Leaders and more Leaders will become IBCLC's so that each community
can meet the on-going and pressing needs of LONG TERM lactation care for
every mother in that community.
 
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
 
Blessings.
 
Karyn-grace Clarke, IBCLC &  (proud!) LLLL
Gabriola Island, BC, Canada

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