>Breast feeding is the natural way to produce healthy, happy, babies and
>mothers in Shatsta County.  Our goals are to educate Health care
>professionals to give appropriate INFORMATION AND advice to keep mothers
BREASTFEEDING [nursing] their
>babies FOR AT LEAST TWELVE MONTHS [well into the first year] and PREFERABLY
beyond.  To inform parents-to-be of the
>deeply satisfying, health-optimizing, and money-saving benefits of feeding
>their babies breast milk. [for at least the first year].  To make the general
>public aware of the life-long advantages the breast-fed individual enjoys so
>that all people will encourage rather than discourage the breastfeeding
>mother.

I WOULD ALSO INCLUDE A SENTENCE ABOUT THE HEALTH BENEFITS TO THE MOTHER,
SUCH AS A REDUCTION IN RISK FOR ALL REPRODUCTIVE CANCERS (UTERINE, CERVICAL,
OVARIAN, AND BREAST) AND OSTEOPOROSIS.  AND MAYBE A MENTION OF THE
CHILD-SPACING EFFECTS?

YOU MIGHT WANT TO WAIT UNTIL THE NEW AAP GUIDELINES COME OUT (12 MORE
DAYS!!) AND THEN USE THEM AS A MODEL.  OR AT LEAST MAKE REFERENCE TO THEM --
THAT IN YOUR COUNTY HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS BE AWARE OF THE AAP GUIDELINES
AND IMPLEMENT THEM.

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