In a disappointing and short-sighted move, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed two breastfeeding bills. One was the bill I took the time to ask my state senators to support — SB 257 the Pavley-Employee Notification/Lactation Accommodation that would have required state entities to inform pregnant employees about the existing California law that requires workplace lactation accommodation.overnor Schwarzenegger believed that there was not adequate evidence that mothers are not aware of their right to workplace lactation accommodation. However, the California WIC Association sponsored the bill in the first place because it found that state agencies do not always advise pregnant …read more

If you are a breastfeeding mother who enjoys talking about breastfeeding and passing on the support you received as you started out with breastfeeding, consider becoming a volunteer breastfeeding counselor! Volunteer as a leader with La Leche League worldwide or become a peer counselor through the Women, Infants and Children programs in the United States. Check out these resources from LLL and WIC respectively: Thinking about LLL leadership? and Interested in Becoming a Peer Counselor? (note that this resource is from the WIC offices in New York — each state will have its own, but similar, WIC programs and procedures). …read more

~ The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program encourages breastfeeding through the offer of pumping supplies, support from breastfeeding peer counselors, and incentives to breastfeed (breastfeeding mothers who do not require infant formula are given extra allotments of food). Tanya at the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog reports that WIC is in danger of having to cut over half a million families due to a potential lack of funding.
~ Author Sean Taylor refused to accept the prize money for the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize 2007 after he learned about Nestlé’s unethical marketing practices. Thanks to Bliss-Breastfeeding for the heads-up on that …read more