The BIG Story

Mother's Milk

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Seema Selmar with three of her seven children: Yosef, Esther and Sara.

How two Jewish women found support
for their decision to nurse.

Editor's Note: The La Leche
League (LW is an international,
nonprofit organization that works
to increase the awareness of the
advantages of breast feeding, to
support breast-feeding women
and to provide accurate informa-
tion about breast feeding, All LLL
meetings begin with a general
disclaimer to inform participants
that they are not affiliated with
any religious or political organi
zations. Leaders often tell visitors,
'take what you can use and

7/10
1998

64

leave the rest. We are not here
reast-fee
to set any rules. We want to sup-
ing should c
port you so you can make the
A bab
baby outgrow
best decisions for your family as
11-)as a need to s e VS4Other
you know your family best."
that is as intense as his heed for
At ILL meetings, hosts made. cer-
tain there was kosher pizza for the = food.
CU does not provide medical
two Jewish members.
LLL has 10 guiding principles or advice. Call the Metro Detroit LLL
Referral Hotline at (313) 438 -
beliefs. You do not have to
1015 for information, LLL meet-
agree or believe in them to
ling times and places or leader
attend. A few are noted here:
1phone number for questions and
Loving guidance. Breast milk is
I
help. ❑
the superior infant food. A

Diane Baldwin
AppleTree Staff Writer

f you've ever nursed a baby, you
know that you are offering more
than just food. In addition to the
superior qualities of breast milk, you
are providing love, security, comfort
and warmth.
C =\
In America, women have a
choice: bottle or breast. If a women
chooses breast over bottle, she may
discover she needs support, not only
for accurate information and proper
techniques (long past are the days
when women learned to nurse from
their mothers), but for the lifestyle she
will have as a nursing mother.
Seema Selmar of Oak Park nursed
each of her seven children, whose
: ages now range from 3 to 16. She
always knew she wanted to nurse
and wanted to be successful at it.
"It has to be something I can do.
It's natural," she thought. However,
there was a lot of conflicting infor-
mation about nursing, and she felt
1 she needed support to succeed. Her
mother and sister were not success-
ful at breast feeding.
"Somehow, people make nursing
failures seem genetic," she said.
An avid reader, she often saw
information about La Leche League
(LLL) in various books she read.
I When she was seven months preg-
nant with her first child, she made
I an effort to find a local LLL group.
"There was no 800 number then,
like there is now," she said, -"and it
' was a lot of work to find a group,
but I was motivated." She attended
several meetings prior to giving
birth.
"It was the key to my success," she
said. "I got advice, compassion and
hands-on help from the LLL leaders."
Selmar began attending LLL meet-
ings for breast feeding information
and support, but soon realized she
was getting more than that. She
was a first-time mother looking for
support of her mothering choices.
She was relieved to connect with
other women, who, although not

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