Hi all
A discussion has arisen recently in a couple groups I have involved with. We have a large health authority steering committee that is currently called the ‘Breastfeeding Advisory Council’. In the terms of reference, we are responsible for all things breastfeeding related (protection, promotion, support…). Naturally, a key function of the group is to work towards BFI designation for all our facilities (hospital and community). This council is designated as the BFI implementation steering group in the Terms of Reference. We have had a request by some higher up admin leaders to change our name to the 'BFI Committee'. The reason given is that the term ‘breastfeeding’ is limiting the understanding of  the group’s focus. There is the perception (by admin) that the current title suggests (to the uninformed) we are not supportive of mothers who for some reason can not or choose not to breastfeed. (this of course in not true, our mandate is very much along the lines of BFI - working to support all mothers/babies/families with best practices and honoring the choices they make or are necessary for medical indications). There was even the suggestion that maybe we should be called the Infant Feeding Committee  - because, for similar reasons, our draft policy was changed from the ‘Breastfeeding Policy’ to the ‘Infant Feeding Policy’ even though the content of this high level policy remained the same - basically to work towards BFI. 
This came as a surprise to me. I am aware that there is some backlash against BFI (thinking that BFI isn’t ‘mother friendly’) so this is the exact opposite thinking. These admins like the term  BFI (because who wouldn’t like that we are ‘baby friendly’). The difficulty I have with this is that I have always considered that breastfeeding promotion, prevention and support involved more than just BFI. Sure, if an institution decides to embark on the journey to BFI a lions share of the committee work will be BFI related. And really, for most breastfeeding related work we do we could massage it to fit under the 10 steps. Especially since Step 10 is so broad that any community breastfeeding work can fit under population health. I guess I’m thinking, for example, that our Perinatal Network Steering Committee would have a large amount of their work focused on meeting Accreditation Canada Obstetric Standards, but the committee isn’t called the Accreditation Obstetrics Standards Committee. Breastfeeding Committee for Canada isn’t called the Baby Friendly Initiative Canada, but Breastfeeding Committee for Canada - with a large portion of the work directed to BFI (but not all?). I see BFI a very important tool we can use to advance our work, but not as the defining concept. 
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue. Is it just semantics? Is it important to acknowledge, by title, that ‘yes, the work that we are doing is breastfeeding related’?  By eliminating the word ‘breastfeeding’ from our policy title, our committee name etc are we playing it smart? or being disingenuous? Remember, the public doesn’t know the name of our committee  - our audience is health care providers. 
Many thanks - TIA, Meggie
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