Michelle wrote:
>>The group that bothers me is Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies which has a
national newsletter that I receive which almost never mentions breastfeeding.
>
>Now this caused me pause, because here in Texas, the Healthy
Mothers/Healthy Babies Coalition is made up of LLL folks, WIC folks (WIC and
LLL work together in Texas)Texas Department of Health folks (extremely
proactive in breastfeeding, such as the national media watch campaign), and
people like me.  In fact, Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies has been able to
get a big foot in the door many times/places where LLL has been denied, even
though the two groups are composed of exactly the same people.  For example,
HMHB can display breastfeeding promotional material at the Columbia Hospital
Baby Fair, while LLL cannot.  Of course, most of the HMHB materials come
from LLL and the women at the booth are all LLL Leaders!  I don't receive
the national newsletterfor HMHB, so don't know why they don't say much about
breastfeeding, as that is the main focus of the Texas HMHB.  That's one of
the problems with these national organizations that have local chapters --
they can be totally different from one area to another!  Hey, just like LLL
groups!

')
Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University