For many women, learning they are pregnant starts a whole list of choices that need to be made concerning the care of their child. One of these choices is whether to breastfeed or not. Breastfeeding provides physical, emotional, and psychological benefits to both mother and child. Though it is the biological norm to breastfeed your baby (we are MAMMALS after all) for many women it is a struggle. There are many reasons why some women don’t succeed at breastfeeding or can only breastfeed for a shorter period than they desire. The main reason is that our culture has become, over multiple generations, anti-breastfeeding. Due to this cultural norm, many women have no model to turn to observe correct breastfeeding. They have no one to call and ask questions. They have no one to observe them and make suggestions about whether they are breastfeeding correctly or what are some parenting practices that promote or hinder breastfeeding. That is where La Leche League comes in.
La Leche League is a volunteer organization that’s sole purpose is to promote breastfeeding and support mothers who want to breastfeed. Each local group offers monthly or bi-weekly meetings where they cover such subjects as: breastfeeding a newborn, introducing solids, breastfeeding toddlers, breastfeeding and working, and weaning gently. They also offer over-the-phone support and sometimes they will even meet a new mother at her house. The leaders, and regular attendees, can give new mothers the support that in previous generations would have been provided by grandmothers and aunts. They can help the mother see what normal baby behavior is and what they should or shouldn’t do to successfully breastfeed. They can also offer tips if the new mother is having trouble breastfeeding their baby. They are trained to be able to help a mother properly latch a baby (the cause of most breastfeeding pain) and how often a baby should be nursing. Breastfeeding is very different from formula-bottle feeding and often most of the feeding and sleeping information given to a new mother is about formula fed babies.
La Leche League is very active in the Baltimore area, with a meeting held at least once a week somewhere in the city and the surrounding counties. If a mother is interested in breastfeeding, one of the smartest things she can do is attend a meeting even before the baby is born.
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