The Herald, Sharon, PA Published Sunday, July 2, 2000

SHENANGO VALLEY

La Leche League nurses breastfeeding moms

By Erin Remai
Herald Staff Writer

Motherhood can bring with it a lot of questions, especially if a mother chooses to breast feed her baby.

La Leche League, a breastfeeding support group active in 60 countries, gives nursing mothers a chance to share their concerns with other mothers going through the same things they are.

Until November, there was no La Leche League chapter in the Shenango Valley. That changed when Barbara Kremm of Clark received her accreditation as a La Leche League leader and started a local group.

"We are basically a mother-to-mother support system," Mrs. Kremm said. "We get together once a month to discuss breastfeeding ... difficulties a mom may be having, and we give support to each other."

Seven women who found a need for breastfeeding support founded La Leche League in 1956, when breastfeeding in public was taboo. Meetings were originally held in mothers’ homes, until the groups became so large they had to hold the meetings in churches and other community centers.

Mrs. Kremm wanted to go to a La Leche League meeting when she was pregnant with her daughter Abigail, who is now 2, but she could not find a local group. After Abigail was born she learned of a group in Grove City, and the leader of that group helped her get the accreditation she needed to become a La Leche League leader.

"To be accredited, you have to go through a whole accreditation process," Mrs. Kremm said. "Through accreditation you have to read a lot of material on breast feeding. La Leche decides what you read. It’s a long process. Sometimes it takes a year or more." It took Mrs. Kremm nine months to receive her accreditation.

A prospective La Leche League leader must work with an accredited leader, write out a personal history and believe in La Leche’s philosophy and purpose. A prospective leader must also fulfill one requirement: she has to be a mom who has nursed her baby for at least nine months.

"You have to be a mom. It’s really hard to help another mom get through some of the things she’s going through (if you didn’t have the experience)," Mrs. Kremm said. "You have to believe breast milk is a superior infant food."

Leaders are volunteers who are available by phone 24 hours a day to help mothers with any breastfeeding situation, Mrs. Kremm said.

The Shenango Valley chapter of La Leche League meets the fourth Wednesday of every month at Hermitage HealthPlace. The group started out with two moms and now sees about eight to 10 moms every month, Mrs. Kremm said.

Meetings are open to pregnant women, mothers with babies or toddlers and even grandmothers other women who are interested. Because some of the mothers may be shy about breastfeeding, fathers and other men generally are discouraged from attending meetings., Mrs. Kremm said.

Membership fees are $30 a year, but the local group only keeps $7.50 out of the $30, Mrs. Kremm said. The group relies on fund-raisers for most of its money.

If a mother is interested in joining La Leche League, she can come to a meeting to see if it fits in with her "family and personal philosophy," Mrs. Kremm said. If the mother decides to join she pays the fee and fills out a form. If a mother attends a meeting but decides not to join, the group usually asks for a small donation, Mrs. Kremm said.

Membership in La Leche League enables a mother to attend the special members-only meeting, which is separate from the regular meeting. Members also receive a year’s subscription to La Leche League’s bi-monthly New Beginnings magazine.

At the beginning of each meeting, the mothers discuss the concerns they have with their babies. After sharing advice and experiences, the leader starts the prepared topic designated by La Leche League. The topics have different names but usually cover the advantages of breastfeeding, what to do when the baby arrives and nutrition and weaning.

At a recent meeting, mothers discussed how they met their family’s needs. During a group exercise, each mother was given a household item, such as a notepad, a feather duster or a vegetarian cookbook. The moms had to explain to the group how the item either met or did not meet their families needs. This discussion led to a discussion about how breastfeeding met their families’ needs.

"The main goal is to provide an environment for moms to come in and feel comfortable enough to ask questions and get answers to empower them to believe in their instincts," Mrs. Kremm said. "We’re not here to say this is right and this is wrong, but to talk about what’s best for them."



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