I just wanted to share a couple of incidences that happened this week that
bolster my resolve to try even harder to educate those around me about the
importance of breastfeeding. My daughter, who is a  3rd year Civil
Engineering student, was at the mall with her four roommates. For some
reason their conversation turned to breastfeeding and my daughter proceded
to enlighted them on all the benefits and importance of breastfeeding(Taking
her with me to the ILCA conference payed off--she didn't attend any sessions
but we discussed breastfeeding alot on that trip).  She was sharing with me
about the discussion and said the girls had never before heard what she was
 telling them. They were then prompted to call their mothers at home and ask
if they had been breastfed with the ones who were breastfed feeling pleased.
I have to add that one of the benefits she told them about was the increase
in IQ scores and they are all getting geared up for finals at Michigan
State. So I don't know how many of those girls will breastfeed when their
time comes but the seed has been planted. 

The other incident was with the staff nurses of the NICU where I work.  We
have been uncharacteristically slow and the nurses have had some down time.
As I was talking with the nurses about non work related things, they began 
asking me breastfeeding questions mostly pretaining to themselves or a
family member. Even though it was an informal unscheduled conversation about
breastfeeding the questions kept coming and in a very nonthreatning open
discussion I was able the give a mini inservice on how breastfeeding works
for a healthy term baby and some of the difference between those babies and
the preemies we work with.

 What I take away from these two happenings is that both formal and informal
education of the public is so important and the more we can present
breastfeeding, no matter who the audience is, the more we move to
normalizing one of the most basic functions of life--feeding our offspring. 

Thanks for letting me share and philosophize
Beth McLellan RN, IBCLC
Sparrow Health System
Lansing, MI

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