La Leche League

Dear RWS 1301 students,

Many questions swirl around when people hear that someone is expecting. One of the most
repetitive questions asked is, Formula or Breast milk? When a baby is born the mother must
decide how she will proceed to feed her infant. Ensuring that he/she gets all the nutrients it will
need to build a healthy immune system. The phrase breast is best is repeated throughout her
pregnancy. If the mother chooses to breastfeed she may not know where to start. Breastfeeding
does not always come naturally to every mother, and also many other problems can arise such as
not being able to produce enough milk or unable to have a proper latch when attempting to
breastfeed a child.
La Leche League is a global non-profit organization that is set up solely to help new as well as
experienced mothers with anything breastfeeding related. They pride themselves as being a
caring, honest support group for the women who dont have that support system they need from
family and friends. The people behind La Leche League mainly consist of other mothers who
have personally went through the hardships and frustrations of their breastfeeding journey and
know what works and what doesnt. They follow a ten step philosophy a couple examples of this
philosophy to summarize what this agency stands for are, Human milk is the natural food for
babies, uniquely meeting their changing needs, and, Good nutrition means eating a wellbalanced and varied diet of foods in as close to their natural state as possible. Many chapters of
La Leche League also have certified lactation consultants on call who help provide education on
the proper latching procedures and anything that is breastfeeding related.
Since they are an international organization they have a website to help spread any information
on updated laws and the rights mothers and babies have to tips. At the top of the page allows the
user to select from a variety of countries, states, cities. There is usually more than one La Leche
League group in many areas of the United States. The multitude of options helps a mother get in
contact with the leaders if they would like to attend meetings locally and meet other women who
are in the same position they are. They are an excellent resource to have when you know very
little of breastfeeding or to just receive support from women who understand the struggles of
breastfeeding. Also listed in their website you can find events, conferences and workshops they
hold in major cities such as Chicago. The most previous conference held in the state of Texas
was the 22nd Biennial LLL of Texas Conference back in July of 2014. There are no dates set for
the next one.
La Leche League has a simple and easy to use website, (http://www.llli.org/resources.html). El
Paso, TX local La Leche League chapter can be found at the following website;
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Leche-League-East-El-Paso/194044560635561?
ref=ts&fref=ts). Through this popular social media website, women can easily message one
another and receive a quick response. This chapter also holds monthly meetings on the third

Sunday of every month at 10:30 AM, with topics that they rotate through which already are pre
scheduled. The four main topics they discuss are, Advantages of breastfeeding for the mother
and baby, the baby arrives: The family and the breastfed baby, the art of breastfeeding and
overcoming difficulties, and Nutrition and Weaning. The leader of this group is Amy, she also
provides her personal home phone number as an extra way of contact for immediate support. She
can be reached at (915) 491-3487. The El Paso East chapter location is not listed on their website
and advises you to call for the location. In addition to the El Paso East Chapter, the city of El
Paso also has two other chapters; The North East El Paso Chapter which meets at the living
health center at 3434 Hondo Pass and the El Paso West Chapter which meets at the Las Palmas
Life Care Center at 3333 N. Mesa. They both follow the same guidelines, meeting dates and go
through the same pre scheduled topics as the El Paso East Chapter. With three different locations,
it makes it convenient for a new mother to find one locally to her.
Sincerely,
Maria Brozek