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La Leche League International: Promoting Awareness for Breastfeeding

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La Leche League International: Promoting Awareness for Breastfeeding
La Leche League For decades there has been a debate over whether or not women should be allowed to breast feed their infants in public. Breastfeeding is a significant activity in early development. Human breast milk contains essential nutrients and calories that are vital to the growth and health of children during the earliest stages of life. There are many organizations that have been formed to promote the awareness and necessity for breastfeeding. The most popular organization is the La Leche League International (LLLI). The La Leche League offers the women of the Valley the opportunity to join an international women’s organization and to better gain valuable insight on the history of breastfeeding and benefits that breastfeeding provides to both the mother and her infant.
The La Leche League International is a non-profit organization that was founded by seven mothers (Mary White, Edwina Hearn Froehlich, Mary Ann Cahill, Betty Wagner Spandikow, Viola Brennan Lennon, Mary Ann Kerwin, and Marian Leonard Tompson) in the United States in 1956. The founders of the La Leche League hoped to help other mothers who wanted to breastfeed their children but found it difficult. The La Leche League offers information and encouragement (mainly through personal help and experience) to all mothers who want to breastfeed their babies. The La Leche League encourages breastfeeding from birth onwards with no upper age limit for the child. The idea for naming the ‘La Leche League' came from a statue in St. Augustine, Florida honoring "Nuestra Senora de la Leche y Buen Parto" which means “Our Lady of Milk and Good Childbirth”. When the La Leche League was found, the words "breastfeeding" and "pregnant" weren't readily accepted in society, so the Spanish word "La Leche" (which stands for "the milk") was used as to not offend anyone in the society. In 2010, the League published the book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding which “is the most complete resource available for the
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