Dear All,
I'm almost scared to post this for fear that something will come along and
take it away....but.  Our County Breastfeeding Task Force who has no dues, no
money, no budget, little time but TERRIFIC intentions is embarking on a
project that could have a huge impact in our area. In August, a group of 10 -
some physicians, some RN's, a RD, CPSP coordinator and me are going for a week
long training in San Diego to get everybody trained to return to our area and
begin programs to train MD's, residents, RN's, student nurses etc.  All of the
other participants are employees of the county and will have their
expenses/salaries paid to get this experience.  When it first came up I was
(am) SO excited and wanted to do whatever it took to be included.  This is
what I've always wanted to do!  I love teaching, and I'm good at it.  The way
we handled the fees involved were to solicit "donations" from the various
institutions who will be getting the benefits of this training.  We trainers
will be, essencially, indentured servants for about two years until we repay
our debt via free classes.  After that, we will be able to charge for the
classes so that it will be possible to actually make a living doing something
I've been doing just for the joy of it for years!  It is going to be tough on
my family to be gone for 6 days, but they understand how bad I want to do this
and very supportive.  Since I work alone my practice will also suffer, but
hopefully not too much. (Hooray for cell phones and pagers!)  There aren't too
many people I know around me who understand my elation, so I just wanted to
share this great news and promise updates.  This should certainly be a pebble
in the brook in terms of  acurate breastfeeding info being given to the folks
who seem to have the most powerful influence in initiating breastfeeding.  If
anyone wants to contribute ideas for teaching strategies for HCPs I'd love to
hear about them so we can get  the enthusiasm level up in the people who are
having such an impact on breastfeeding attitudes and success in our area.
Wish us luck!  WHEEEEEE!

Delightedly,
Gretchen Andrews, BA, LLLL, IBCLC
private practice, Redlands, CA