amy spangler

Carrie: It is such an honor to talk with you Amy because I have read at least a couple of your books and I have been a big fan of your breastfeeding books and you are a fellow Atlanta native.  So, it is nice to talk to a fellow Georgia Peach.

Amy Spangler:   Well, I was thrilled with the invitation.  I am pleased with what you are doing and the information that you are sharing and it is wonderful to participate.

Carrie:    You know we are celebrating breastfeeding this month because it is the 50th Anniversary of La Leche League and it is World Breastfeeding Week, which is usually celebrated in August.  It is good that we are talking.

Amy Spangler:      Yes it is.  Your timing is perfect.

Carrie:    We were just talking before about this controversy over the Baby Talk Magazine and it really illustrates one of the things that we are going to discuss which is that our community, the entire community, our whole society needs to come together to support breastfeeding.

Amy Spangler:      Absolutely!  I think the magazine cover was a reflection of the progress that many of us in the breastfeeding arena feel we are making in terms of making breastfeeding the cultural norm.  At the same time, the reaction of readers and the public to the cover when they saw it is a reminder of how far we still have to go.  Their reaction that this is in some way indecent, embarrassing, inappropriate, so many different words were used and yet you know the sad part is it could not be more appropriate because it is really the single most important activity I think that women can undertake to ensure optimal health for their babies.

Carrie:   I am going to mention your book real quick, Breastfeeding, Keep It Simple.  That was probably the first one that I had heard of and read and it is great.  It is just a very simple guide, not complicated at all, but it covers everything.  Breastfeeding, A Parent's Guide that talks about some of the facts and myths of breastfeeding and Breastfeeding, Your Guide to a Healthy Happy Baby. 

I agree with you that it is one of the most important things that a mother can do to give her baby and herself the best chances as far as their health.  It is interesting how we find out more and more and more about the benefits of breastfeeding every year.

Amy Spangler:     Well to me it is interesting that -- I think the reaction of members of the public to situations like this whether it is the cover of Baby Talk or even the cover of the Time Magazine generated that somewhat negative response when it showed the refugee woman fleeing during the Bosnian War and was carrying a child that was at the breast with almost no breast or very little even invisible and yet engendered the same kind of response. 

I think what it says to all of us individuals like yourself and myself who are very supportive of breastfeeding and consider ourselves breastfeeding advocates, it says to us we need to really think about how we deliver our message, how we frame that message so that we can do it a way that invites support from every member of the breastfeeding community or from the public community and does not alienate segments of that community and that is the hard part. 

I think that the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign was a reflection of that.  It was a campaign that wanted very much to convince mothers that would otherwise not choose to breastfeed, that breastfeeding is something they should think about, so it delivered those risk‑based messages which generated lots of controversy and we were back that same position of asking ourselves how do we deliver a positive message and change behavior and at the same time not make those mothers who for whatever reasons choose not to breastfeed feel uncomfortable with the choice they have made.  That is the hard part and I think it will continue to be the hard part.

Carrie:      That is true because everyone is coming from a different place and even people who are supportive of breastfeeding.  Some of them are still uncomfortable with some of these issues like nursing in public.  There are still people who feel very strongly that breastfeeding was the best choice for them and they nurse their own children but they did it in the bathroom.  They still feel that that is the way it should be handled as if breastfeeding was necessary and good but like urination or copulation it should be hidden, but you are right.  It is not about making women feel guilty who choose a different path but we cannot be dishonest at the same time.

Amy Spangler:    Absolutely!  We do not hesitate to tell individuals about other important public health activities like car seat safety, bicycle helmets, and healthy eating.

Carrie:     And cigarette smoking in pregnancy or…

 
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