Breastfeeding Initiatives at the American Academy of Pediatrics
Luann Gilliland
Bloomsburg PA USA and
Susan Buckley
West Hartford CT USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 16 No. 6, November-December 1999, p. 205
Exciting things are happening
at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Betty Crase is helping
to make those things happen. In 1998, she joined the staff at the AAP
as Program Manager for the Breastfeeding Promotion in Pediatric Offices
Program. Before starting this job, she was the Director of the Center
for Breastfeeding Information, the LLLI database of breastfeeding research.
She currently serves on the LLLI Board of Directors.
During one of her sessions
at the July 1999 LLLI Conference Betty talked about the past, present,
and future of breastfeeding programs at the AAP. She summarized the
major ideas included in the December 1997 AAP policy statement on "Breastfeeding
and the Use of Human Milk." She also described a newer program, the
Breastfeeding Promotion in Pediatric Office Practices Program (BPPOP).
The goal of BPPOP is to increase the number of pediatricians who promote
breastfeeding. Betty's hope was that in six months' time, she could
locate at least 300 pediatricians who would be interested in participating
in this project. To her delight, at the time of the LLLI Conference
in July 1999, there were 1400 interested participants and the enrollment
period had not yet ended. Pediatricians who are interested in the program
can find out more by writing to the AAP or checking out their website
at http://www.aap.org/.
AAP members are encouraged
to join interest groups called "sections." Currently, there is no section
devoted to breastfeeding. To form a new section at least 40 members
must express an interest. On a Friday, Betty sent out a letter suggesting
that a breastfeeding section be formed. By the following Wednesday,
300 pediatricians had expressed their interest. The AAP is an organization
that exists to serve its members and its members are demanding more
breastfeeding education.
To meet this demand the 11
members of the AAP Breastfeeding Work Group (the committee that developed
the new policy statement on breastfeeding) are working on a breastfeeding
text for physicians and others involved with lactation support. The
Work Group is also helping to design a poster called "Ten Steps to Supporting
Parents' Choice to Breastfeed Their Baby." It is hoped that pediatricians
will use the poster to remind themselves how best to support a breastfeeding
family and to let breastfeeding families know what kind of support they
should expect.
You can be an active consumer
by discussing this program with your child's physician. Find out if
he or she is aware that it exists and if so, whether their office has
applied for enrollment in BPPOP. Let them know that you are interested
in a practice that stays current on breastfeeding research and support.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:48 UTC 2007.
