I’m back from a great trip to California, my fomer home state.
My first stop was in San Diego, where I attended the annual ILCA conference (the International Lactation Consultants Association). From there I headed to the Bay Area to visit my parents.
At the conference I got to meet Cate Colburn-Smith (picture to right), co-author of the book The Milk Memos, chat with my instructor Gini Baker, and even was lucky enough to sit at breakfast with Dr. Jack Newman (picture below left with my friend Joanna)! I got to meet and hear Nils Bergman who pioneered the concept and practice of ‘kangaroo care’ for premature babies. And to the lower right is a picture of Jerrell, who works at the ILCA headquarters, wearing a t-shirt given to the handful of men attending the conference. It says, “REAL men go to breastfeeding conferences.”
One of my favorite presentations were one on hormonal causes of low milk supply, given by Lisa Marasco. Without getting too geeky on you, I’ll just say that the talk made it clear that there are many, many unanswered questions about how things like environmental hormonal disruptors (pesticides, chemicals leaching from plastics, other toxins) affect breast development and the process of lactation. We also still know far too little about how common conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome and hyperthyroid affect milk production. It was a fascinating, frustrating discussion.
Another very good talk was on the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, given by Marta Trejos from Costa Rica. She talked about Costa Rica’s efforts to prevent the marketing of formula, and how, when a mother chooses formula over breastfeeding, it can mean that a family spends as much as 75% of their income on formula. When this happens, she says, the other children in the family often eat just one meal a day. She talked about the tragic consequences of the distribution of formula after natural disasters like floods, when clean water is often unavailable for safely preparing formula. Finally, one mind blowing comment suggested that as the U.S. negotiates free trade agreements with Latin American countries, laws preventing aggressive marketing of formula may be headed for extinction.
Here’s something for you guys to noodle on: One of the presenters pointed out that when the lactation consultant exam was first given in 1985, the vast majority of the candidates were “community-based,” primarily La Leche League leaders. This is probably because the lactation consultant profession grew out of La Leche League. In the last few administrations of the test, the ratio has flipped; now the vast majority come from other health care professions, predominantly nursing, and only 5% came from the community. This likely has to do with the number of clinical hours required to be eligible to sit for the exam, and also the fact that most jobs in lactation are in hospitals. What does this mean? I’m not sure. It could mean that more hospitals are recognizing the value of specialized breastfeeding support. It could also mean, as I've heard, that breastfeeding is becoming increasingly "medicalized." Your thoughts?
After the conference I headed up to the Bay Area to visit my parents for a few days. It was a relaxing end to the trip. I spent an afternoon at Fort Funston (picture at top left) with a very good friend, did some shopping (I always have really good luck at the thrift stores there), and visited the very impressive Filoli estate with my mom (picture to the left).
It was a great trip, but I'm happy to be home!
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