Pulled from In Mother Words...

I am so grateful to editor Sarah Hunsberger and graphic designer Harmony Spangler for volunteering to bring the inaugural issue of In Mother Words to life. Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon has become a well-recognized resource for breastfeeding support, promotion and protection in Oregon, and we have needed a forum to share our good news with the greater community. Of our many projects, a principal work of the last three years has been to bring a statewide Breastfeeding Coalition of Oregon (BCO) to fruition. Preparations have included researching coalition building around a health topic, researching local and state breastfeeding coalitions nationally, surveying individuals and local coalitions in our state, presenting training to WIC staff on coalition building, and writing a Guide to Building Breastfeeding Coalitions. In October, 30 advocates from across Oregon came together with a professional facilitator to brainstorm and form five committees to support the coalition: Mission and Goals; Infrastructure; Policy and Advocacy; Logistics and Stakeholders; and Funding. These committees are focused on preparations for a May 3-4 conference to launch the coalition. May 3 is a technical lactation seminar featuring Dr. Marc Cregan from Australia, who will present on the new understanding of breast anatomy and effective pumping to increase milk fat content for preemies. May 4 is the Breastfeeding Coalition of Oregon’s first annual meeting, featuring two speakers. Laurie Meteer, Division Director of Maternal/Child Health at Oregon Health Sciences University, will inspire us on why breastfeeding matters as a public health issue. Kat Shealy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will inform us on practical, research-based steps to take in our community to make breastfeeding the norm. We will then ratify the committee work and plan for the future. Proceeds from the Cregan seminar will pay for the coalition meeting, but donations are also requested to support the coalition. Register today at www.nursingmotherscounsel.org The May 4 meeting is an opportunity to be an honorary coalition member for a day, with all the responsibilities and privileges that incurs such as a voting rights and sparkling cider to toast the new coalition. Cheers! Amelia Psmythe, NMC Executive Director

BREASTFEEDING COALITION of OREGON

Since March 2005, Nursing Mothers Counsel has been working with the Oregon Office of Family Health to prepare for the launch and sustainability of a statewide Breastfeeding Coalition of Oregon.

Key developments in this process have included researching existing statewide breastfeeding coalitions across the country, surveying local breastfeeding coalitions across Oregon, developing a training and guide for coalition development, and drafting a statewide breastfeeding coalition Plan. 

Nursing Mothers Counsel also maintains a BCO listserve connecting individual and local coalition members from across the state through updates and news reviews.  You can join this list-serve by writing to: amelia@nursingmotherscounsel.org with “Add to BCO listserve” in the subject line.

While much of this groundwork has been laid, the true work of any coalition is based on collaboration and cooperation.  On October 30, 2006, forty breastfeeding advocates from various organizations and agencies across the state, met with a professional facilitator to begin to define the purpose, vision, means and goals for this new organization.

From this day of work, four committees have been formed :

• Mission and Vision

• Infrastructure (governance, etc.)

• Policy and Advocacy

• Outreach, marketing and planning for the first Annual Meeting of the BCO, to be held in Spring 2007.

For more information about these committees, please contact amelia@nursingmotherscounsel.org.

These developments are particularly exciting, as they dovetail and built on national breastfeeding coalition development.  In January, 2006, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) convened the first national conference of statewide breastfeeding coalitions.  In October, 2006, CDC led the first bi-monthly conference call of statewide coalitions.  Representatives from Oregon have participated in both of these activities.

While the 2005 CDC data affirms that Oregon’s 26% six month exclusive breastfeeding rate puts Oregonians as leaders in the country, we all recognize that  this means only one in four babies is receiving the absolute minimum in biologically normal infant feeding.  Thus, we remain leaders with a long way to go.  Forging a statewide breastfeeding coalition allows us to collaborate on the direction and means to ensure more babies in Oregon get the best start.