Almost Wordless Wednesday…

I am digitizing over 25+ years of memories.  Today I came across one of my favorite thank-you cards.   The layers of meaning were not lost upon this mother, or me, her lactation consultant.   Tongue-in-cheek, but so powerful.  Her cups, her breasts and both of our hearts runneth over.

There are so  many challenges that face modern breastfeeding mothers; quality lactation support can make such a profound difference.

Your successes are what keep us going.  We are here to assist you.  Getting “feed”-back from families is priceless for those of us who have dedicated our lives to protecting and supporting breastfeeding!

Your positive stories and comments are welcome here.  And…

Don’t forget to let your IBCLC know she/he made a difference for you!

March 7. 2012 is World IBCLC Day

I have decided to join Connie Ragen Green’s 21 Day Productivity Challenge leading up to this occasion. It will give me an opportunity to review how I can better serve and foster conscious breastfeeding connections here on the blog and through The Breastfeeding Salon.

Teaching prenatal classes and coaching mothers after they have begun to breastfeed has been my passion for more than a quarter century. Sadly, breastfeeding remains a challenge for many modern moms, despite the ever increasing number of lactation consultants. Ironically, for many of these new mothers, their “productivity” is often at issue.

It takes approximately 21 days to install a new habit or change a mindset. Thus, I am doing this challenge with high hopes for my online/offline business makeover. What makes it even more powerful for me is the awareness that this is the same timeline during which a pregnant woman makes her transformation to becoming a breastfeeding mom.

I invite you to join me on this journey of growth and change and be here to celebrate with me and my fellow IBCLC’s in early March.

As I reflect on 9-11, I remember the mothers who lived downtown.   Many of them hunkered down to avoid the acrid smoke that blew from the pile.   They did their best to shield themselves from the toxic air and the frightened mood of the city.

This little guy was born a few weeks after the Towers came down.  He was son number three born to a family in my lactation practice.   He is enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry which is tracking the long term health of over 70,000 individuals  who were living or working in close proximity to Ground Zero in the fall of 2001.

Breastmilk is often called liquid gold.  Today I’m thinking of it as the milk of human kindness that was intended by nature to nurture us all while we are babies.   May this little  breastfed Ground Hero continue to be healthy.  May he grow up “in the land of the free and home of the brave”… in a world that is at peace.

Heartfelt thanks go out to all the heroes, the first responders and our servicemen, among them my brother Lt. Col Stephen M. Clements USAF, who answered the call to action in the wake of 9-11.

Although I had been blogging since 2007, I had not really focused on a regular pattern of writing, nor paid much attention to stats. I knew that someone must be reading and hopefully inspired, but did not have a clue about my readership other than most likely they would be mothers or family members of mothers who were breastfeeding.

Coming from over 42 sources or mediums. my blogosphere has expanded exponentially during this period. The power of Facebook and the likebutton became self evident. A full 3/4’s of the visits were from “friends” or “friends of facebook friends”. The three most popular posts were liked and shared there in what would be the third largest country of the world . Social media and word of mouth cannot be underestimated.

They are here, in the order of their popularity, if you missed them on the blog roll:

Breastfeeding Postcard Speaks Volumes

Breastfeeding on Reality TV

Breastfeeding Status Update:  It’s Complicated

I have appreciated all the comments, many of them from my fellow participants in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Your support keeps me inspired.

This is not an ending, but rather a beginning. With your help…I will continue contemplating the core elements of a modern breastfeeding lifestyle.

In my office clean up I found this relic. (Click on it and enlarge it.) It was edited by an Indianapolis Pediatrician, Mary Jo Stine who presented it at a conference at least two decades ago.

National Breastfeeding Awareness month, World Breastfeeding Week and the Ultimate Blog Challenge were the perfect storm to help find my voice on a regular basis. I’ve been an ambassador for breastfeeding wherever I have gone these past 31 days…from Starbucks to Facebook. At times, I have even surprised myself how I could relate just about any topic to breastfeeding.

I have been as creative and humorous as possible to raise awareness among all who have crossed my path. I will discuss the highlights in my last post of the challenge.

Still waiting for the day that a banner will read…Breastfeeding Foremost and find no one is offended by the sentiment!

What do you think?