LLL in Turkey
By Monica Winter
Winston Salem, NC USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 19 No. 5, September-October 2002, p. 175
Being a woman in the military
or the wife of a military member has unique challenges, especially when
families are stationed overseas. At no time is that more true than when
a new baby comes along. Many women have babies when they are far away
from home, family, and the usual support system afforded to other new
mothers. When this happens, military mothers must become their own family
support system.
I delivered my first baby,
Karis Amanda, and had a rough period in the early stages of breastfeeding
with engorgement, sore nipples, and multiple questions about whether
or not I was feeding her properly. Even though I had read quite a bit
of information about breastfeeding, there was no support system in place
for breastfeeding mothers at our small military station in Izmir, Turkey.
Having "book knowledge" about breastfeeding was not the same
as having personal one-on-one support and relationships with women who
have had breastfeeding experience.
With the encouragement of
my wonderful husband, I decided to start a breastfeeding support group.
I knew the next step was to come up with a plan. My first thought was
to find the La Leche League Web site to see what was available. I became
quite motivated when I looked on www.lalecheleague.org and found so
much helpful information. I corresponded online with Kathy Baker and
Sheryl Denson. After learning about the different options, I decided
LLL's Breastfeeding Resource Center was the best suited to our situation.
With the books, THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING and BREASTFEEDING PURE AND SIMPLE, plus multiple brochures, pamphlets, tear-off sheets, and
LLL catalogues, we had plenty of resources to get us going.
At our first meeting last
year, I was pleasantly surprised to have eight women attend. We have
now grown to 17. Our meetings include pregnant women as well as mothers
who are currently breastfeeding or have breastfed in the past. We always
find something to talk about. A few of the topics we have discussed
include nursing a toddler, benefits of human milk, the breastfeeding
mother's diet, breastfeeding in public, and special problems related
to returning to work while breastfeeding.
Having other women to talk
to makes such a positive difference. We are fortunate to have a group
of women with a wide range of breastfeeding experiences. We all benefit
by learning how each mother overcame her specific obstacles. Educating
ourselves on the health benefits of breastfeeding for both the baby
and the mother also gives us motivation to keep breastfeeding our babies.
If nothing else, we can at least cheer each other on and say, "You
can do it!" That definitely helps especially when the going gets
tough.
Last updated Friday, September 8, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:56 UTC 2007.
