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 > > *********************************************** > > Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html > To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] > Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] > COMMANDS: > 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: > set lactnet nomail > 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail > 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet > 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome > *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome