Matters Breastfeeding

www.laleche.org.uk

Tandem Nursing A mother’s story of her

unexpected journey

Twelve

Months of

Mothering:

Newborn

A story of perseverance

Relactation

# 217 January/February 2017

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GG (Eva Gisella Natali Williams) is a Leader in North Oxfordshire and is mum to Caterina (6),

Serena (4) and Ben (3).

La Leche League

National Helpline 0345 120 2918

www.laleche.org.uk

To find your local LLL contact, submit a Helpforrm, or access our many leaflets and articles

www.llli.org

La Leche League International for breastfeeding information

LLLGB because Breastfeeding Matters

is our Facebook page where you can find articles and plenty of support from Leaders and mothers

Twitter@LLLGB

is the way to keep up with all that LLLGB is doing right now

La Leche League

Editor: GG (Eva Gisella Natali Williams) Co-Editor: Charlotte Crane

Contributing Editor: Sophie Burrows Graphic Design: Sophie Burrows

Editorial Consultant: Ginny Eaton

Contributions Breastfeeding Matters is YOUR magazine, we

always need your letters and stories. Photos need to be clear and good quality—please send high

resolution digital photos to the Editors at editor@laleche.org.uk

Views expressed herein are not

necessarily those of LLLGB. Submissions may be subject to editing.

No articles to be republished or redistributed without the express permission of LLLGB.

LLLGB does not endorse products or organisations mentioned in

Breastfeeding Matters articles.

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by Roy on

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Cover:

Sam Leggett

Co-Editor Charlotte Crane is a Leader in Monmouth and is

mum to Sebastian (8) and Abigail (4).

Contributing Editor and Graphic Designer Sophie Burrows is a

Leader in West Sussex and is mum to Luke (5)

and Henry (2).

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Happy New Year and welcome to this issue of Breastfeeding Matters! I hope you all had a chance to share some special time with your families during the holidays and to get some rest! Many of us have probably come up with a New Year resolution; mine is not to forget how precious every moment with my family is, even when mothering my three children presents its inevitable challenges. Your stories are a fantastic source of inspiration in those moments: reading how strong-willed and in tune with your mothering instincts you all are can be truly empowering! Many of the stories in this issue show how gratifying following our babies' lead can be, even if it means facing the challenge of deviating from 'mainstream' parenting choices. In the first of a series of articles on 'Twelve Months of Mothering', Alison writes about the emotional aspects of life with a newborn, as new parents try to learn from their babies how to become something new. Tessa shares her reflections about her growing desire to follow her motherly instincts from giving birth onwards and the divergence between these instincts and today's popular ways of parenting. Clare explains how she turned to LLL publications to find the answers she needed on tandem nursing and Nicola tells how, after being uncertain about breastfeeding during pregnancy and facing a number of nursing difficulties when her baby boy was born, breastfeeding became so important to her that she decided to relactate. We also have an exciting article on the highlights of the last LLLGB Conference that I'm sure those of you who were unable to attend will truly enjoy reading. I am looking forward to another great year of LLL stories… Please share them with us!

Mothering through breastfeeding is the most natural and effective way of understanding and

satisfying the needs of the baby.

(One of the ten LLL philosophy statements)

Photo courtesy of GG

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How To Get Support

www.laleche.org.uk

0345 120 2918

LLLGB because breastfeeding matters

@LLLGB

Our LLLGB website is an excellent

source of support and information.

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Mothers’ Stories Regular Features News and Events

12 33 6 20

6 Living the unexpected tandem style Clare Catto

30 LLLGB 2016 Conference Highlights 9 Word Search

12 My relactation journey: a story of perseverance Nicola Sheldon

33 Hello from Ayu! 10 Twelve months of mothering: Newborn Alison Jones

22 Making different choices Tessa Clark 34 Leader Awards 18

Introducing LLL Oxfordshire

Jayne Joyce

20 Mothers on... babies and food

25 Made with LLLove

Cacao and peanut butter crunch truffles

26 Book Review

The Gardener and the Carpenter

28 Meet a Leader Sue Smith

Photo courtesy of Lucie Glynn

Alert and active participation by the mother in childbirth is a help

in getting breastfeeding off to a good start.

(One of the ten LLL philosophy statements)

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Clare Catto, LLL Monmouth

If my pre-child self could see me now, she would be surprised. I was keen to breastfeed, but thought 6 months would be about right and after that my baby would eat solids and I could drink wine. As I soon learnt, babies have opinions, and mine decided very early on that breastfeeding was her number one favourite activity. I breastfed into my second pregnancy, sure that weaning wasn't far off, as I had been assured that babies didn't like the changes in milk supply caused by pregnancy hormones and mostly self-weaned. My supply dropped off at about 20 weeks and reappeared in the form of colostrum at the end of pregnancy. I was hopeful that my dear daughter would be dissuaded by the extra effort needed to get milk and by its funny taste, but she had other ideas. It was a firm no to alternatives (cow, soya, almond and coconut milk all ended up watering the floor) and a firm yes to the breast, whatever the changes in milk quantity and taste. I suddenly realised that if I didn't do

anything, I would still be feeding my 22 month old when the new baby arrived. Was this possible? How would it work? Should I force the issue? As my due date got closer and closer, I became less and less willing to force weaning onto my toddler just before her world got turned upside down by the arrival of the new baby. Although pregnancy can cause very sensitive nipples, turning breastfeeding into agony for some mothers, nipple sensitivity never became unbearable for me, thus giving me even less motivation to call a halt to nursing. I turned to La Leche League and the authoritative (and only!) book on the subject, 'Adventures in Tandem Nursing' by Hilary Flower. One of the first things I learnt was that my stats were all wrong. Babies feeding during pregnancy didn't 'mostly' self-wean: instead, they tended to choose to continue to nurse. Data on this topic are scarce, but it seems more realistic to say that about 50% wean, half initiated by the mother and half by

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7 24 hour Helpline: 0345 120 2918

the child. One way of looking at that would be to say that, given the choice, 75% of children would choose to continue. And my daughter was certainly in that 75%! I had many questions and I thought that sharing my answers, purely based on my experience of 5 months of tandem nursing, might be useful for some mothers finding themselves in a similar position to mine. Will I have enough milk for two?

Yes! Supply and demand work just the same. Increased demand leads to increased supply. My system sorted itself out quite quickly and my toddler often helped to solve the engorgement problems of the early days which could have otherwise made it difficult for the newborn to latch on. Will I have to always feed the baby first so the toddler doesn't take

all the milk?

I did feed my baby first to start with, to make sure she maxed out on colostrum, had complete feeds and gained weight. I am more relaxed about this now. My toddler normally feeds a lot less than the little one, but if she is feeling poorly and wants to nurse frequently, I tend to allocate sides for that day. That way, I can be sure that the baby gets a good amount of both thirst-quenching foremilk and creamier hindmilk. My toddler loves that and enjoys pointing and naming sides "my round" and "baby's round" (I have no idea why she calls it 'her round'. Perhaps

practising for the pub later in life?) Will the milk I produce be 'toddler milk' or 'newborn

milk'?

As the composition of breastmilk changes depending on the age and requirements of the child, one of my main questions was whether my milk would be different because I fed my toddler through pregnancy. This is quite a complex question which I'm sure would benefit from more research, but my experience was that the pregnancy hormones reset my system to start again for the new baby. Fascinatingly, kangaroos have evolved to feed babies (joeys) of different ages. They nurse their tiny newborns in their pouch on one teat while feeding an older joey on a second, and each teat produces a different milk composition appropriate to that joey’s age. How will my toddler react?

This is an ongoing process! Sometimes she is beautifully kind, holding her sister's hand while they are feeding, telling me that her sister "needs milk" and stopping to say "baby's turn!" and sometimes she can't restrain her inner toddler and pokes the baby in the face...To put a positive spin on it, the negotiation and sharing which are involved in tandem nursing are definitely a learning opportunity for

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all of us! And I am grateful to still be able to turn to nursing to comfort her during the many bumps and little stresses of a toddler's life. Can I feed both girls at the same

time?

Yes. But it certainly wasn't easy to start with and it felt very odd the first time we managed it. Now the little one has improved her latch and strengthened her neck, feeding both girls at the same time is easier. It requires cushions, patience and tolerance on all sides, but it can really smooth those moments in the day (or night!) when all three of us get fraught! How have people reacted?

Although I'm happy with our choice, I don't tend to shout about it. I would have to be feeling very brave to tandem feed in public and I can generally distract my toddler with a banana until we get home. I have had to agree to disagree with my parents,

but most people I have told have been supportive, even if they feel it wouldn't be the right thing for them. Would I do it again?

Sometimes I feel frustrated to have so much focus on me (specifically on my breasts!) and I can feel 'touched out'. But yes, I would do it again if I felt that the older child, like my daughter, would be unhappy to wean earlier. It is great to know that my milk is providing immunological protection to them both, protection which is designed specifically to combat the bugs the toddler brings into the house from nursery. I also love the fact that I haven't had to deny my older daughter something which so clearly gives her comfort, and I love the relationship it creates between the girls as they learn to share. In conclusion, it's not always been easy, but it's definitely possible and for us, it's certainly been worth it!

Mother and baby need to be together early and often to establish a satisfying

relationship and an adequate milk supply.

(One of the ten LLL philosophy statements)

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L K B R S C G U H D S H N P R

O A X D K L D T H M I L K U E

V L L I Q U I D G O L D J M L

I P E E L L L J O T I H J P A

N L A Z C K K I J H Y T R I T

G L D Z F H L F S E Q W E N I

G S E F S L E E P R A S D G O

U C R G F Y H L E T D O W N N

I B R E A S T F E E D Q A O S

D Z Z J K I Y L L A Y J L B H

A A B R E A S T A B G C X Z I

N D E L Q W E R Q T Y U U I P

C H E R L L O V E Y U Z E X C

E V G H J L K L E Z X C V G B

N M Q W E R T Y T U I Y B A B

A O J H F H J K Y I H F D K T

LA LECHE LEAGUE GB

BREASTFEED

LETDOWN

LIQUID GOLD

BABY

MOTHER

LOVING GUIDANCE

RELATIONSHIP

MILK

LEADER

LLLOVE

PUMPING

SLEEP

24 hour Helpline: 0345 120 2918

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Being pregnant can be amazing, challenging, wonderful, energising and, tiring; so many things. In our cerebral culture, where we think too much, many of us are unprepared for the physicality of making a whole new person within us. Then we have a baby, the rite of passage of birth often spoken of either in hushed tones or the emergency colours of media drama, and after it we have this being, a person in their own right, not yet viewed as such by many, but given a name. This person is completely and utterly dependent on us to stay alive, to thrive and grow strong, and everyone tells us it won’t be long until the little seed blooms, but in the long hours and days of early mothering this can be hard to believe. It’s a shock, becoming a mother. That transition from pregnant woman, full of possibilities, to holding a baby is something you can prepare for physically – with exercises, breathing to help you ride the tides through from one place to another, interventions if you need them – but the emotional work, possibly the most important steps that could prepare us to butterfly into a new being after nine months of waiting, is often sadly lacking. That kind of work doesn’t make anyone any money and sadly we live in a world that prefers to hand us a shopping list rather than ask us about our feelings. Newborns are amazing. They come hardwired to breastfeed, usually our bodies have everything they need, and mostly they can manage it for

themselves, although some may need help and encouragement. Some will arrive calm and relaxed, ‘model’ babies who will be admired by everyone; others will be more vocal and people, well meaning, will make suggestions which are both damning and heartbreaking in the same breath. Society loves to judge new parents, sleep deprived, in a hormone haze and so vulnerable as they tentatively become something new. Life with a newborn can feel like an endurance test; can you get through all the visits, fend off all the well-wishers and curious enquirers who want to hold your baby so you can do the housework? Can you deal with intergenerational horror stories about why your choices are wrong? Can you work out how to comfort a small person whose waking hours have not yet fallen into a circadian rhythm and still look like an iconic representation of the bearer of new life? Society and the media have a lot to answer for, but the truths they tell are only true if we believe them. The very basic human needs that newborns have are simple: the need for food, the need for shelter and the need for love. Women’s bodies are amazing, in that they can provide all of those things, given the opportunity. As families reform and constellate into new shapes and new ways of being together are explored, there are some wonderful magical things that can be discovered and experienced with a breastfeeding baby: the oxytocin daze of a little one, drinking,

Alison Jones, LLL Oxfordshire

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drifting, sleeping and dreaming; the comforts of skin to skin; how, as a mother, you become home to someone new. I don’t know why we aren’t often told of these small beauties and blessings before we become parents. I do know that you can’t breastfeed a baby too much, babies are not manipulative, they do not want to press us beneath their thumbs or become rods for our backs, whatever that means in a modern context. In mothering a newborn, we are learning a new language, the language of each other, the language of togetherness, of family, and a new way of being in the world. The discourse markers are new, the landscape uncharted, and as we climb from the cocoons of our former selves, butterflies, tentative in a new territory, maybe we feel truly alive for the first time. There’s no greater treasure than knowing that you are made from the things you believe in. Newborns certainly invite us to hold up a lens to ourselves and ask: who am I as a mother, what is my integrity, how am I authentic?

Maybe if the world could shift conversations about mothering away from guilt and blame, then new mothers could stop feeling shame and find strength in their vulnerability and follow their bodies' instincts: to keep their babies close, to enjoy them in their arms, to have empathy for these new people who are experiencing the

outside world for the first time. The world can be a scary place when you’ve been held close in the warmth and dark for nine months and birth disrupts everything you thought you knew. While there is no single solution that works for every baby, many mothers find the coming together with others and sharing a space to give voice to their experiences is a powerful thing. Knowing you’re not alone with a newborn and your experiences can keep you going through this new part of your journey in life. For me, that’s what LLL meetings were for: the glue holding together all my new experiences, forming them into something I called mothering, something I experienced in an entirely different way to members of my own family, because many of the choices I made about it were very different. It felt so good to know that I was not alone in these differences. It was immensely helpful to be able to take doubting family members along to meetings to show them how the accumulated wisdom of LLL was providing me with a good system of

support, allowing me to make informed choices as a

mother and follow a path to become something

other than a product of my personal circumstances. This is what I wish for my own

children; for them to be able to see past any current constraints and become who they

want to be. This is what I wish for all mothers of

newborns. Drawing courtesy of Sophie Burrows

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When I was pregnant I was very ambivalent about breastfeeding; I figured I’d give it a go and if it didn’t work out then that was okay. Most of my friends had experienced difficulties with breastfeeding. Some hadn’t been able to make it past the first few weeks; others had managed to establish feeding but had run into problems at the four month mark. None of them had wanted to move to formula at the time and I know they had experienced a great deal of heartache over what they perceived as a failure. I vowed that I wouldn’t put myself through that. At the beginning of my third trimester I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and my midwife informed me that my baby may need supplementation in the event of low

blood sugar levels after birth. I was advised to hand

express every night and,

after diligently doing so for two

weeks, I

started to get a couple of millilitres of colostrum. Seeing my body actually producing milk, I began to think a little bit more seriously about breastfeeding. Harrison was born at 38+6 weeks, after a long labour which ultimately ended in an emergency C-section, and I didn’t get to hold him until about one and a half hours later when I was back in the delivery suite. The heavy cocktail of drugs I had taken had started to wear off and I was so shaky that I was afraid I couldn’t hold him, so I passed him to his dad. I was completely shell-shocked by the whole experience: after being awake for about 40 hours I truly could not think for myself and I let the hospital staff guide me. It was at least 3 hours before the midwife suggested I feed my newborn, at which point I excitedly said I wanted to breastfeed. She told me she would ‘show me what a good latch felt like’ and I thought that was good, as I knew latch was really important. She manhandled my breast into my son’s mouth and he

latched straight on; she asked if it hurt and I said that it did a little, so she unlatched him and we tried again. As it still felt a bit

uncomfortable, we tried this several more times, until

my poor little boy got fed up and refused to latch at all. The midwife

Nicola Sheldon, LLL Berkshire

Photos courtesy of Nicola Sheldon

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called someone else to ‘have a go’: she had little more success and eventually suggested I hand express so she could feed my colostrum to Harrison in a bottle. Soon afterwards, we were moved up to the postnatal ward where I had to say goodbye to my husband and was left alone with my baby. It was 2am, I had been awake for 45 hours straight and was beyond exhausted. I quickly began to drift off and then suddenly heard a wailing coming from my side. Bed-bound and confused after the C-section, I could do nothing but lie there until a member of staff asked if she should take the baby to the nursery to let me get some rest. I think I nodded as she wheeled my baby off for the night and I quickly fell into a deep sleep. When I woke around 5am I pushed the buzzer to ask for my baby: the nursery nurse came in with him in her arms and told me it was good timing as he’d just been fed. I didn’t realise what that meant at the time, as I was too busy staring in amazement at the tiny bundle in the cot next to me. As he still wouldn’t latch on properly, we were given small bottles of formula to feed him. Every time I called for help with breastfeeding, the nurses would spend ten minutes tugging at my breasts and pushing his little face into them until he latched on; the moment they walked away he would almost immediately slip off and they would bring me more formula. One helpful midwife offered me a

pump to see what I could get (quite a lot as it turns out) and suggested

using expressed milk instead of formula where possible. However, she gave me no guidance on how to use the pump to build my supply, so I only expressed once or twice a day and topped up with formula. We were sent home at 3 days and there, without any

support, things went from bad to worse. Most attempts ended with both Harrison and myself crying in frustration, followed by my husband feeding him with a bottle. I was still periodically expressing, but the amount of breastmilk I was able to get was dwindling and he was for the most part formula fed. At 3 weeks, my health visitor suggested swaddling Harrison to prevent his angry and frustrated fists from getting between him and my breast. At last, he latched, and he stayed there for 20 minutes!! I was over the moon. From then on I decided to try and get him back to the breast and started offering it

I also got my husband on board with my crazy plan...

He quickly recognised my determination and was 100%

behind me, providing whatever help he could...

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before every formula feed. I was pretty sure my supply was almost gone at this point, so I was worried about starving him. Although feeding did not suddenly become a dream, my son latched on more often than not and soon I started to reduce the number of bottles he was receiving. Not knowing about the mechanics of milk production, I focused on breastfeeding at daytime and continued to formula feed overnight. We had an element of success; however, Harrison seemed to feed constantly. When at home he would feed for 4-5 hours straight, have a 20 minute nap and then wake up crying for more. I would literally not be able to move off the sofa. If we went out, he would be fussy and irritable, so I would hurry home to feed him. I had a crippling fear of feeding in public: I was intensely embarrassed about the possibility that he would scream at me when I offered him my breast, so I refused to feed him where anyone could see us. By 7 weeks I was exhausted and miserable. I needed a break, so I introduced a bottle of formula back into the day. That was soon followed by a second and a third; before I knew it, we were down to one breastfeed a day just before bath time. That feed slowly got shorter and shorter until, at 15 weeks, he refused my breast. I had failed. I cried and I cried. Somewhere along the way breastfeeding had become critical to me and I had completely and utterly failed. The last 15 weeks had been difficult emotionally; I had

been up and down, frequently crying at my inability to provide the best for my son. My husband didn’t know what to do with me. He had really wanted me to breastfeed, but could see the emotional toll it had taken on me and wanted me to feel better. It was hard on our relationship, as I took a lot of my frustration out on him. Even though he tried to be supportive of me, I felt like he considered me a failure. We finally agreed that it was time to draw a line under the experience and move on.

Except I couldn’t, and whenever he would let me I would latch Harrison on for a quick suckle, cherishing every moment. Aside from the emotional aspect of breastfeeding, one of my biggest concerns was that Harrison had developed reflux and was throwing up a lot, pretty much every time I

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picked him up. This had only become a problem as his diet had become more formula based and I felt quite strongly that breastmilk would resolve the issue. This was the point where I made my decision. I was still able to produce a few beads of milk, so I decided to relactate. As I hadn’t received a lot of support from my local health professionals, I simply scoured the internet for success stories and planned my route of attack. I hired a hospital grade pump, stocked up on fenugreek

capsules and asked my doctor for a

Domperidone prescription. I

also got my

husband on board with my crazy plan. He was initially nervous, as he didn't want me to get upset again if I couldn't do it. However, he quickly recognised my determination and was 100% behind me, providing whatever help he could when he wasn't at work. For instance, he would get up early with Harrison during weekends to allow me to get

some extra sleep and would occupy him while I was expressing. To start with, I expressed for 15 minutes every 2 hours around the clock. By the end of it I was exhausted and had only managed to express 10ml, but I was determined. This time nothing would stop me. I continued to express every 3 hours during the day and once every night while my baby slept peacefully through. I also started offering the breast before every formula feed and at every other opportunity that presented itself. I offered my breast every time he cried, if he was bored, hungry, tired or just grumpy. I answered every issue with mummy’s milk. In the early days of relactation the frequent pumping sessions did tie me to the house. After about two weeks, I started relying on the pump less during the day and tried to feed directly from my breast instead, but it was a long time before I managed to leave the house without thinking about when I was going to express. During this time, I became convinced that Harrison was tongue tied. A very knowledgeable Infant Feeding Coordinator – the third health professional I consulted about this – confirmed my suspicions, diagnosed a posterior tie and referred us for treatment. Much to my dismay, the tongue tie division did not result in an instant improvement; it took several weeks for Harrison to learn to nurse properly, during which he also refused my breast for 4 days. I was devastated and decided to ask a lactation consultant to come and

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see me. She suggested I use a Supplemental Nursing System (SNS): it was difficult to get Harrison latched on properly with the tube in the right place, but it was amazing to watch him feed calmly and contentedly at the breast for the first time ever. We used the SNS for a couple of weeks, although never in public, and soon my efforts started to pay dividends. Slowly but surely, the amount of milk I could express started to increase and Harrison started feeding longer and longer at my breast, not requiring topping up. It wasn’t long before he was happy to latch on his own, allowing us to stop using the SNS. One day he fell asleep on my breast before I could offer the formula top up and slept for nearly 2 hours, not looking for food when he woke up. He didn’t have his next feed until nearly 3 hours later, so we decided to drop one of his 4oz bottles, bringing us down to only 4 a day. Yet, sadly, our difficulties were not over. Harrison started baby-led weaning at six months and took to it enthusiastically. However, we soon noticed that a lot of the food was getting pushed into the roof of his mouth until one of us fished it out. At

this point he was on two bottles a day and I was struggling to phase out one of them. When his weight gain halted, all the confidence I had been building over time about my body being able to produce enough milk for him was shattered in an instant. He was starving! When my father-in-law sadly passed away and Harrison had to be looked after by

other family members for a couple of days, we witnessed again how much formula didn't agree with him and swore he would not have another drop of the stuff from that point on. I did some research again and started to suspect that Harrison’s tongue tie must have re-grown. That would have explained the difficulty he had in moving food

around his mouth, why my nipples had started hurting again and why it still felt like I wasn’t producing enough milk. A quick trip to the Infant Feeding Coordinator confirmed that this was the case, and, at seven months, he had his second tongue tie division. On the very same day he swallowed his first ‘food’ – the paper napkin my mother-in-law had given him to play with – and the evidence was for all to see in his

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nappy the next morning! We soon managed to get rid of his afternoon bottle and were left with just the bedtime one to deal with. I was still having to express three times a day to get enough milk for that bedtime feed: it was hard work, but Daddy enjoyed the one-to-one time with Harrison, as well as being able to put him to bed. At around 10 months, following a minor stomach bug, Harrison started to refuse the bottle, preferring to feed from me instead. He was clearly comforted by nursing and my husband was relieved to know that he was staying hydrated. He quickly realised he had plenty of other ways to be involved other than feeding him. From that moment onward we never looked back and I went on to feed Harrison through my second pregnancy; he dry nursed up until the

birth of his little brother and then abruptly stopped, at the age of three and a half. Relactating and nursing my little boy was the best parenting decision I have ever made and I will always cherish the memories of that time with him.

Would YOU like to support other mothers to breastfeed?

Then the La Leche League International accreditation process may be the life changing experience you are looking for.

To find out more about becoming an LLL Leader, speak with your local Leader about the prerequisites

and the role. Making the transition from being a mother to being a

mother who is also an LLL Leader could just be the fulfilling adventure you have

been waiting for!

Contact: applicationenquiries@laleche.org.uk

for more information.

18 24 hour Helpline: 0345 120 2918

How long has your group been active for in your area?

In its current form, about 17 years, although there had been a group in Oxford at least once before this. The fabulously talented and energetic Jen Knuth revived LLL Oxford around 1999, when she moved from California for three years with her family. My best memory is of her

catching her son's vomit in her hands while leading an evening meeting at her house. She didn't miss a beat; finished her point, then went calmly out of the room to clean herself up! I thought that was the coolest bit of mothering I had ever seen, and wanted to be like her (preferably without the vomit). What type of meetings do you hold and how often?

We hold LLL group meetings in six locations around the county each month, run monthly toddler meetings in Oxford city (exhausting for us, highly valued by mothers!), and have just launched a second monthly antenatal session for couples. Having been an entirely Oxford-city-focused group up until a couple of years ago, we have now expanded all over the county: it's wonderful! We have also just launched our first "daughter" group: our Co-Leader Tessa Clark (who lives just across the border in Bucks) has revived LLL Chilterns. We already work closely with LLL Northants and LLL Berkshire. What other ways do you have of offering support to your locals mums?

We have about 500 women in our Facebook group, which is well used, primarily by women who attend or have attended our meetings. In addition to three LLL book libraries, we run a maternity clothes library, which enables mothers to access low-cost maternity wear, puts us in touch with pregnant women and earns money for the group. Several of us are involved in our local Baby Cafés, as facilitators and volunteers. We are also one of the partner organisations in "Oxfordshire Baby Friendly Alliance", which exists to make sure that our maternity, health visiting and other local services implement Baby Friendly standards and provide excellent breastfeeding support. This, as well as attendance of Leaders at Local Interest Group meetings (facilitated by health visitors as well as midwives to coordinate local feeding support) has strengthened our links with other providers, which I think has really benefited local families: they get joined-up support from people who know and value each other.

Each issue we feature a local LLL group and its activities.

I love watching mothers providing sensitive, kind,

well-informed support for each other.

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Why do you love your group?

How long have I got? As a mother, it was where I had my second education: the one that taught me to listen to my baby, my heart and my women friends, as well as my intellect. I have learned so much; I was the first person in my family for three generations to breastfeed, and there is no way I would have breastfed all my children into toddlerhood without LLL's inspiration and support. I love seeing mothers walk out of meetings taller than they walked in, with relaxed shoulders and the knowledge that they are doing a great job. I love seeing babies growing up and mothers gaining skills and confidence with each baby. I love watching mothers providing sensitive, kind, well-informed support for each other. And (most of all) I love my Co-Leaders. I could talk about them all day! My life would be so much poorer without them, as would the lives of many local families. In what way do your members help LLL keep going?

On a practical level, memberships are the financial backbone of our organisation and we are very proud that Oxfordshire has one of the biggest memberships in LLLGB. The main thing that LLL has to offer is a community of supportive mothers. If you ask most mothers who enabled them to breastfeed, they won't mention an "official" helper (such as a health professional or breastfeeding counsellor), but a supportive breastfeeding friend. Our members are those friends: as an organisation we are passing important skills and knowledge down the generations. http://www.llloxford.org.uk/

Breastfeeding is enhanced and the nursing couple sustained by the loving support,

help, and companionship of the baby's father. A father's unique relationship with his

baby is an important element in the child's development from early infancy.

(One of the ten LLL philosophy statements)

This issue Jayne Joyce tells us about LLL Oxfordshire.

Photo courtesy of Catriana McKie

20

Charlotte: When your kid’s

first taste of food is ice cream...

Jaz: No words needed....

Amanda : We had a spaghetti

explosion....

Beverley: Curried sweet potato and

lentils at six months for Thea: I think she liked it!

Susannah: I felt so emotional about starting Henry on solids. I felt proud that my body had nurtured and fed him for fifteen months altogether

including pregnancy, but I felt very sad at the thought that it would end. He took to food very quickly and clearly

enjoyed the whole experience

(the wine was not for Henry!).

Beth: Enjoying steak and chips at 6.5 months. He was so happy. I've tried

to do baby-led weaning, but he often wants to eat from a fork or a spoon like mummy. He is proficient

at feeding himself with a loaded spoon or fork and even insists on

finger food being on a fork!

Caroline: Enjoying summer evenings in the garden with spaghetti

bolognese!

Georgina: I want to try wearing my breakfast! Way more fun

than eating!

21

Ilana: Why does making dinner always coincide with the baby witching hour? Here is the foot

on stool-nursing-cooking-

hopefully far enough away from the hob to be safe

position...

Jacqueline: My daughter will eat just about anything if it's been stolen from my plate. She helpfully signals that she's

finished eating by putting food up her nose and into her ear. Her favourite foods are ones that easily double as artistic

materials to be splattered across the kitchen when she needs a little break from practising her spooning skills: yogurt,

Weetabix, spaghetti bolognese... She is very social and happily sits eating while she has company, so it's very easy for me to

catch up with friends in public eateries – an impossible endeavour when she is running free and craves attention or

climbs up the highest objects in view. One day she survives on crumbs, breastmilk and air and the next she lets me know she

is hungry roughly every two hours by rubbing her tummy. I am building a larger and larger repertoire of quick snacks and she scoffs them all! After breastfeeding and nighttime cuddles, mealtimes are the best (once you adapt to coping

with the mess) as she is always so happy and interactive when playing with food. She also loves to share and will feed

anybody within reaching distance, although the food may be a little slobbered on.

She is now 14 months and occasionally finishes a meal without requiring a hosing down afterwards due to her newfound

ability to use cutlery, so I am savouring the messy days while they last!

Kim: While not his first taste of food, this picture captures his interest and curiosity in everything we offered him. I didn't feel a loss in our connection too much because I still needed to feed him. Now at 15 months, he is feeding himself; that I find hard.

24 hour Helpline: 0345 120 2918

Charlotte: Pizza or boob? Boob or pizza?

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When I became pregnant with the one I now know to be my son, I had all sorts of ideas and ideals about parenthood and little interest in breastfeeding or responsive parenting. This has changed a lot over the last two years: who would have thought that a simple thing like mother’s milk could cause such a divergence from the popular ways of parenting these days. It always starts with a couple and a pregnancy, a team of people concerned about safety and outcomes, and a mother who usually feels a little bamboozled with birth. I remember thinking that my pregnancy was normal and that everything was going well, but I now

realise it was nevertheless a time full of decisions being made and unmade; as the pregnancy progressed, I heard more and more about mothers having

instincts

surrounding birth that for many reasons were not given enough weight. My own birthing experience was the first bubbling of my desire to follow my instincts, which told me I could give birth to this bottom-first baby. I could do it without medication and it would all be ok. I was prepared to take the path less travelled even at this early stage, because I knew that choosing another route could well have an impact on my chances of breastfeeding success, as well as my own mental health. I was concerned that being stuck at home with a demanding newborn would send me up the wall. My baby was hungry all the time and I found myself developing that feeding interval obsession that many new mums grapple with. Without my sling and my car I would have felt trapped by the constant feeding, but with them I had much more freedom than the rest of the mums from my antenatal classes. Already at this point, I found myself making different choices from my friends, whose breastfeeding days had faltered before they had really started and whose preoccupation with how much and how often their little ones had formula was causing a great amount of stress and was really limiting their daily plans. Although I worried about feeding intervals and how much milk my baby was getting for months too, my primal urge to breastfeed at any cost was strong and I revelled in the freedom of going out

Tessa Clark, LLL Chilterns

Photo courtesy of Tessa Clark

23

with just a few nappies, a sling and a purse, being able to spend the day wherever our whims took us with lunch and dinner tucked neatly under my clothes. My friend and I would both religiously time and record breastfeeds on a phone app, but one day we decided enough was enough. We stopped comparing our, we now know, incredibly different babies and WOW! The illusion that we had any control over when and how much our babies breastfed had tied us down for many months. To suddenly be without it liberated us. I started the journey of trusting my own son to lead the way in breastfeeding and, eventually, the rest of our daily lives. I remember thinking about control. If we really could control our small children like puppets, set their feeding clocks and so on, would we still revel in them the same way? Would we even want to nurture them at all? And what kind of adults would they become as a result?

The next time I realised I was not following the crowd, was when all the babies stopped sleeping ‘well’. I was already part-time co-sleeping at that point, and the discussions about sleep training only drove me further down that road. We moved our room around, bought a twin co-sleeping bed and dug in for the long haul. We still have a similar arrangement. It confuses me how I often feel criticised for my parenting choices when many parents I know let their children spend some of the early morning in bed with them. On the other hand, I love the sigh of relief I often notice when a breastfeeding mother realises her ‘secret’

co-sleeping is actually done by many other parents! When the introduction to solids came along, I seemed to be following the popular route at first. My friends and I all waited for our children to sit up unaided, grab food off of our plates and be able to swallow it. We found ourselves having great fun with food on some days and not so much fun on other days of stressed out mess, but surrounding it all was breastmilk. I have never spent too long worrying about malnutrition knowing that my milk is available. Around this time, I began to notice my son’s growing communication abilities, and I noticed them in other children too. However, what started as a way of letting me know when food time was finished grew into patches of autonomy for my son that I sadly saw denied to other babies around me. My instincts were growing and, bit by bit, so was my self confidence, although I did feel increasingly out of step with some of my newly made mum friends. I found solace in my LLL friends and whether or not someone was breastfeeding their children tended to become a filter for future friendships. All too soon, maternity leave came to an end and I fought against my instincts whilst negotiating a part-time contract. At the same time, mothers around me were complaining and becoming exhausted in their new-found freedom whilst working again. I didn’t feel the same. I felt mocked at work for making different choices and singled out by my need to express milk for my growing baby. In the end,

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24

I worked very little and quit. My son wasn’t coping and neither was I. It just wasn't right for us, when our need to be together and nurse was so strong. I still battle with the need to work: I know I will have too, but only when we are ready. My son still loves breastmilk and I am amazed every day that my walking, talking toddler can be so independent, charming, sweet and gentle. Nursing these days is often about touching base; it’s about reconnecting and placating our emotions. I am strong enough to

carry on, but often not strong enough to nurse in public. It is sad that the act of continuing to meet my child's needs in the way nature intended has such an impact on the opinions others might have of me. However, I shall always put my child's needs first as, at the end of the day, he is the person I am accountable to when we are snuggling to sleep. I am grateful every day that I found LLL, I only wish I had found it sooner. I shall continue to spread the LLLove.

Our Lucy

Logo pendant

will make

your outfit

extra special!

60th Anniversary pendant designed and created exclusively for LLLGB using 3D printing techniques

www.lllgbbooks.co.uk

25

Ingredients: 200g peanut butter 100g jumbo oats

200g soft pitted medjool dates

100g ground cacao bar for rolling

75ml maple syrup 1tbsp cacao nibs A pinch of salt

Made with LLLove

Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as

close to their natural state as possible.

(One of the ten LLL philosophy statements)

Photo courtesy of Sophie Burrows

Method: Place all ingredients (apart from the ground cacao bar and cacao nibs) into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the cacao nibs and blend until just mixed in. Roll into 16 truffle shaped balls and coat in the ground cacao. Place in the fridge to firm up.

Recipe by Sophie Burrows, LLL West Sussex

You might not have heard of some of these ingredients before, but they can usually be found in health food shops. Cacao in its raw form is an excellent source of magnesium and, best of all, is a mood booster because it stimulates the release of oxytociyn, the love hormone which is key

for breastfeeding! Cacao nibs add a bit of ‘crunch’ to these truffles but you can leave them out if you are not a fan. I hope you enjoy these ‘refined ingredient free’ truffles!

26

The Gardener and the Carpenter – What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us about the Relationship Between Parents and Children by Alison Gopnik (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Last July, about a month before this book was published, a friend pointed me to an interesting Wall Street Journal article written by the same author, entitled A Manifesto Against ‘Parenting’. I was intrigued by the title, shared the article with my husband and spent some time discussing it with him while we were on holiday in Italy. As soon as ‘The Gardener and the Carpenter’ was released, my book-devouring father-in-law sent us a few excerpts and, after reading a review in the New York Times, I decided I had to read the book too…

Although there is absolutely no mention of breastfeeding in the book, I felt there might be something in there that might interest LLL Leaders and group mothers. After all, one of our philosophy statements focuses on the importance of loving guidance for children from infancy on, reflecting acceptance of their capabilities and sensitivity to their feelings. The key point that Alison Gopnik makes in her book, backing it up with a lot of evidence from her scientific research, is that ‘parenting’ shouldn’t be a goal-directed verb aimed at sculpting a child into a particular kind of adult. Rather, caring for children should be focused on building loving human relationships, providing our kids with a nurturing space to allow them to thrive without attempting to change them. In the author’s words: “Caring for children is like tending a garden, and being a parent is like being a gardener. In the parenting model, being a parent is like being a

carpenter. You should pay some attention to the kind of material you are working with, and it may have some influence on what you try to do. But essentially your job is to shape that material into a final product that will fit the scheme you had in mind to begin with. And you can assess how good a job you’ve done by looking at the finished product. […] When we garden, on the other hand, we create a protected and nurturing space for plants to flourish. It takes hard labor and the sweat of our brows, with a lot of exhausted digging and wallowing in manure. And, as any gardener knows, our specific plans are always thwarted.” It’s hard to argue with this point of view, and I have to confess I felt a certain pride when I admitted to my husband that ‘parenting’ to me just meant being a parent and doing what parents do. Perhaps my naive

27

From infancy on, children need loving guidance which reflects acceptance of their capabilities and sensitivity to their feelings.

(One of the ten LLL philosophy statements)

interpretation of the word ‘parenting’ can be explained by the fact that I’m a non-native English speaker, but, aside from that, I find it hard to imagine the possible advantages of attempting to ‘sculpt’ children with a goal in mind, as opposed to following

their lead and simply letting them be and develop into who they are. Of course, we all want our children to be happy and we all want to be better parents, but as the author puts it, “we can aspire to love better without thinking of love as a kind of work.” According to Gopnik, a prescriptive parenting approach is unsound from a scientific, philosophical and political point of view, not just a personal one. In fact, there is a lot more in the book about scientific explanations of how children learn through play and

the implications this should have on public policy, especially in the US, than there is about personal interactions between parents and children. One point that leaves me slightly

perplexed is the author’s claim that it is very difficult to find an empirical relation between what parents do and their children’s resulting adult traits: she mentions in passing that there is very little evidence that decisions about co-sleeping or not and letting children ‘cry it out’ or holding them till they fall asleep have predictable long-term effects on who children become. I’m not a scientist, but it seems to me there is plenty of research out there (starting from the book “Why Love Matters” by Sue Gerhardt) emphasising the risks of leaving babies to cry and the developmental advantages of receiving responsive and sensitive care from infancy onwards. Aside from my reservations about this last point, “The Gardener and the Carpenter” is an interesting and provocative read. Not a bad choice when in need of something to pass time as your baby is asleep at your breast…

Alison Gopnik is a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who has spent decades researching and writing about children’s learning and development. She writes the ‘Mind and Matter’ column in the Wall Street Journal, authored the book ’The Philosophical Baby’ and co-authored ‘The Scientist in the Crib’.

Review by Eva Gisella Natali Williams, LLL Oxfordshire

The book is currently under consideration for inclusion in the LLLGB list of books suitable for

group libraries.

28

Each issue we talk to a Leader, asking them about their involvement with LLL. This issue we talk to Sue Smith, LLL Widnes & St. Helens.

Tell us about you, your family, and which LLL group you're involved with

My name is Sue and I've been married to Steve for 12 years. We have two sons, aged 10 and 9 years. I started off as a co-leader for Liverpool South, but launched my own group, Widnes, last year. What was your first involvement with LLL?

It was whilst I was planning my first pregnancy. I heard about LLL by chance and soon after my work organised a training course for Peer Counsellor/Administrator. I attended the training course and met our “tutor”, Anne Jobling from LLL Derbyshire. I then went on to co-lead several courses. What made you decide to become a Leader?

I learnt more about LLL and got involved on a more personal level after the birth of our first son. I went to an LLL conference and came away thinking: I want to do this. What's a typical meeting of your group like?

At the moment, there is no such thing as a typical meeting. The group is still fairly new, having only been going for about a year, but at least there are now mothers coming to the meetings. Numbers can vary, but when I first started no one would turn up; unfortunately that went on for several months. What do you enjoy most about being a Leader?

I enjoy being a mum and giving help and support to other mums. I had quite a few challenges along my breastfeeding journeys and can appreciate how alone and inadequate one

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can feel during those rough times. What's the most challenging part of your role as a Leader?

For me it’s been going solo, from Co-Leader to Leader, having to take on the additional admin responsibilities of completing forms and collecting data. It doesn't help that I'm not a very technologically savvy person. Is there anything LLL does -- or could do -- beyond your group that you'd like to tell the world about?

LLL has personally provided me with support, knowledge and information on breastfeeding and gentle parenting. That has made a big difference for me and it does so for many other mothers every day. If you had a friend with a new baby, what would you take as a gift on your first visit?

I think I might pay for a year of LLL membership for her. And on a more practical note, I would offer to take care of her housework and make her lunch for a week!! What would you say is the biggest benefit of LLL membership?

Being able to talk and share experiences with mothers who share the same philosophy as yourself, no matter where in the world you live or what language you speak.

Become a member of LLLGB

An annual membership cost only

£30 for 12 months

(£18 for an unwaged family)

Or £2.50 a month

(with pdf of Breastfeeding Matters)

Join online at www.laleche.org.uk/content/join-us

or ask your local LLL Leader for a membership form

Your Membership

helps us to

start new

groups

The information and support that LLL Leaders offer

are free of charge but getting the information to

mothers costs money!

As a member

you will receive printed copies of

Breastfeeding

Matters

Help us prepare new

Leaders

Support us to produce

leaflets and information

sheets

Every membership

goes towards operating our 24/7 National

Helpline

24 hour Helpline: 0345 120 2918

30

‘Building a Legacy’ was the theme of the LLLGB

Conference which took place in Derbyshire last October. The

reference to both the past and the future was particularly significant, as it highlighted the importance of continuing LLL’s efforts to empower women in their mothering through breastfeeding and to protect their babies’ rights to the comfort, security and food provided by nursing in a world where breastfeeding is still systematically undervalued. These goals have been at the heart of our organisation since LLL was founded in 1956 in the US by the ‘revolutionaries who wore pearls’ and LLLGB was started in 1971 by an accredited US Leader living in England, and they are what fuels our work with mothers and families, giving us the confidence that we are offering something precious to the world.

The Conference was attended by many LLL Leaders, members and

experts who travelled across the world to discuss a

variety of important subjects, including sleep, birth,

pre-term birth, slow-gaining babies, communication skills, social media and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. Here are some of the highlights: Helen Ball, Professor of Anthropology at Durham University and member of the Parent-Infant Sleep Lab, gave an informative talk about the mismatch between societal expectations and the reality of baby sleep. She explained how babies complete their gestation outside the womb and need constant closeness with their caregiver to regulate their breathing and temperature. As they don’t establish circadian rhythms for several months, they can’t sustain long periods of uninterrupted sleep; yet, as parents, we often have a particular idea about how babies “ought” to sleep. In Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (WEIRD) societies, we tend to parent our children very differently from the human norm and our strategies are often focused on “fixing the baby” who may be framed as having a sleep “disorder”. Yet, medicalising infant sleep via sleep training and medication can have detrimental consequences for babies, and parents themselves can suffer the negative outcomes; for example, research shows that mood disorders are more prevalent in parents who perceive their baby as a poor sleeper. Kerstin Hedberg Nyqvist, Associate Professor of Paediatric Nursing at Uppsala University (Sweden), discussed what breastfeeding behaviours can be expected from infants born pre-term. She explained

All photos courtesy of Lois Rowlands

31

how many unnecessary obstacles are often put in the way of breastfeeding by hospital staff members who rely on incorrect criteria for introducing oral feeding. While it is often believed that babies born before 32 weeks of pregnancy are not ready for oral feeding, research has shown that babies can engage in nutritive sucking at 28 weeks. Hospital policies that would support pre-term babies to do so include skin-to-skin contact with the mother, avoiding stressful experiences such as nappy changes before feeding and no restrictions on the amount of time spent at the breast. Dr. Amali Lokugamage, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Whittington Hospital and the Hospital of St. John’s and St. Elizabeth’s in St. John’s Wood, London, discussed how vital the experience around birth can be, laying the foundation for the relationship between mother and child, affecting breastfeeding rates and influencing the development of the microbiome (the microorganisms that live in our body). She mentioned a few studies that show that low-risk mothers have increased rates of complication if they give birth in hospital, but she also recognised that sometimes birth interventions

are necessary; when this is the case, the potential negative impact of breastfeeding behaviour can be mitigated by suggesting natural caesarean births, delaying cord clamping and avoiding separation in the hour after birth. Teresa Pitman, a long-time LLL Leader and co-author of the 8th edition of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (2010) and Sweet Sleep (2014), gave a lovely talk on the challenges of providing breastfeeding support to friends and family and the importance of talking about breastfeeding often in the family, including with children, to help normalise it. She also led a session on slow-gaining babies emphasising the importance of following their lead and observing babies as a whole to assess if they are happy and alert,

24 hour Helpline: 0345 120 2918

32

meeting milestones and producing enough wet and dirty nappies. Diane Wiessinger, IBCLC, LLL Leader and co-author of the 8th edition of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (2010) and Sweet Sleep (2014), led a session about creative ideas for babies who won’t breastfeed and need help to latch on. She emphasised the importance of keeping mother and baby together, feeding the baby and keeping milk production up, trying to relax instead of struggling to breastfeed. She pointed out that overthinking

breastfeeding can sometimes make it harder: nursing is a dance that mother and baby learn together, even though in some cases it may take some time. Look out for more Conference write-ups on the LLLGB website!

By Eva Gisella Natali Williams, LLL Oxfordshire

24 hour Helpline: 0345 120 2918

The welcome return of a favourite product! Help us celebrate the 60th Anniversary of LLL

International and 45th Anniversary of LLLGB with this sturdy box-style jute bag proudly displaying La Leche

League GB's name, logo and anniversary inscription. Perfect for shopping, work or keeping

things tidy. Bag size when fully open approx 29 x 28 x 17cm.

www.lllgbbooks.co.uk

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My name is Ayu and I am travelling around the world with my baby Paco for one year, celebrating 60 years of La Leche League International, hoping to meet as many wonderful LLL people as I can. I was born in Colombia with many other dolls (you can read about us at www.babyayu.com) and I have already visited many countries. In March I visited Frankfurt to spend time with LLL Leaders at a European Meeting and there I was adopted by an LLL Leader from Switzerland, Ruth Brodeck. I then set off for

New Zealand in September, where I visited the LLL NZ Alumnae Association and attended the LLL NZ Conference with Founder Marian Tompson. At the beginning of October I flew to Britain to attend the

LLLGB Anniversary Conference where I met up with lots of my cousins who have gone to live with families across the country. I spent time travelling in Britain, especially Yorkshire, and I'm on my way to the Netherlands, to meet more Leaders and have new adventures.

Photo courtesy of Marshall Mateer

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Lynda Boothroyd – LLL Durham, Gisella Natali – LLL Oxford, Julia Robinson – LLL Bristol, Sara Elphinstone-Hoadley – LLL Oxford,

Louise Ellis – LLL Berkshire, Helen Marriott – LLL Halesowen and Stourbridge, Carolina Bugueno – LLL Wimbledon, Vanessa Olorenshaw – LLL Kent,

Anna Patey – LLL Folkestone, Laura England – LLL Kent, Marie-Helene Sanderson – LLL Tyne and Wear, Kerry Bassil – LLL Chelmsford,

Susan Murphy – LLL Tyne and Wear, Adele Jarrett-Kerr – LLL Bristol, Beccy Say – LLL Tyne and Wear, Sarah Jales – LLL Farnham and Aldershot,

Elise Armoiry – LLL Coventry, Katie Piper – LLL Taunton, Vicki Box – LLL Bury, Karen Hill – LLL Stoke Newington, Sophie Burrows – LLL West Sussex,

Morna Goldie – LLL Fife and Tayside, Catherine Fletcher – LLL Norwich, Anita Mackenzie Mills – LLL Fife and Tayside, Bess Purser Donald – LLL Derbyshire,

Hannah Croft – LLL Kent, Tessa Clark – LLL Chilterns, Helen Maher – LLL Faversham, Kerry Panagiotopoulos – LLL Kent,

Emily Chapman – LLL Kent, Chloe Gasston – LLL West Sussex, Róisín Keenan – LLL South East London, Enid Gruffudd – LLL Aberystwyth,

Mary Firth – LLL Manchester 5 years

Elizabeth Owen, Helen Fallows, April Hunter, Sarah Wood, Leigh Cason, Justyna Walecka-Bowery, Maria Yasnova , Anna Sherman, Justine Fieth,

Loreto Iglesias Rubianes, Anna Gladstone Buchanan, Nancy Ann Bennett, Carolyn Pinnock, Sarah Ingall, Nicola Crossland, Gillian Mabbitt, Nancie Ravdjee

10 years

Jane Burr, Jayne Foukes Nock, Isabel Jordan, Helen Ashley, Suzanne Tobin, Karon Watkin

15 years

Jan Storey, Benaifer Bhandari, Cathryn Sheridan, Ann Davison, Sue Upstone, Helen Gray, Sally Harris, Sue Stockwell, Mary Wright

20 years

Helen Russ, Floredia Chryssikou

25 years

Lin Redman, Marion Jones 30 years

Anne Jobling, Esther Culpin

Emma Taylor – LLL Colchester

Leader Kerry Panagiotopolou will be starting new LLL meetings in Dover.

Past Year Accreditations

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Shopping with LLLGB Books makes a difference.

Choosing to buy your breastfeeding and parenting

books from our LLLGB Shop directly helps other

mothers and babies.

All our profits go to support LLLGB’s charitable work. It’s money well spent!

For our full range of information leaflets and books

on breastfeeding and parenting, visit:

lllgbbooks.co.uk LLL Books Ltd, P O Box 29, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 7NP

Company No 1566925 Registered Charity No 283771

make a difference ... Photo courtesy of Lois Rowlands

36

La Leche League Philosophy

Mothering through breastfeeding is the most natural and effective way of understanding and satisfying the needs of the baby.

Mother and baby need to be together early and often to establish a satisfying relationship and an adequate milk supply.

In the early years the baby has an intense need to be with his mother which is as basic as his need for food.

Human milk is the natural food for babies, uniquely meeting their changing needs.

For the healthy, full-term baby, breastmilk is the only food necessary until the baby shows signs of needing solids, about the middle of the first year after

birth .

Ideally the breastfeeding relationship will continue until the baby outgrows the need.

Alert and active participation by the mother in childbirth is a help in getting breastfeeding off to a good start.

Breastfeeding is enhanced and the nursing couple sustained by the loving support, help, and companionship of the baby's

father. A father's unique relationship with his baby is an important element in the

child's development from early infancy.

Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as close to their natural

state as possible.

From infancy on, children need loving guidance which reflects acceptance of their capabilities and sensitivity

to their feelings.