Friends of La Leche League - Friends of La Leche League

Welcome!

Friends of La Leche League (formerly the LLL Alumnae Association) invites you to browse our site and learn more about our organization.

Let’s connect if you are:

an active or retired La Leche League Leader
a current or former La Leche League member
breastfeeding
a parent of a child from toddler to teen to adult
a grandparent
an advocate for breastfeeding!

**To join or renew your membership, please click here.**

2025 Mini-Grants Funded

Friends of LLL awarded over $22,000 to thirteen projects from eight countries: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, South Africa, Morocco, New Zealand, England and the United States of America. Requirements were that the projects either be submitted by an LLL Leader or have a letter of recommendation written by an LLL Leader or Friends of LLL member. These projects were:

A health professional and parent educational event in Morocco, with donated copies of The Art of Breastfeeding for a breastfeeding resource center and translation of material into Moroccan Arabic
Outreach to expectant and new parents in the Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA area with flyers distributed to local healthcare providers offices, hospitals and new parents’ welcome bags
A brunch in Vero Beach, Florida, USA for National Breastfeeding Month welcoming breastfeeding families, LLL members, LLL Leaders, lactation and healthcare professionals where copies of The Art of Breastfeeding were distributed to expectant and new mothers
LLL New Zealand Alumnae Association to attract new members prior to their Area Conference
A breastfeeding room for those with asylum or refugee status, migrant, or unhoused where they are safe and have privacy to feed their children or express milk; The Art of Breastfeeding as well as children’s books and toys are available there, as well, supported by LLL Widnes and St. Helens, England
Free Little Libraries featuring The Art of Breastfeeding, as well as other books with LLL contact information inside them, with a kickoff picnic by LLL Canonsburg/Cecil, Pennsylvania, USA
Financial assistance for Gwyneth Jacobs, South African LLL Leader, developer of the LLL South Africa Facebook page, to attend the International Congress of LLL IAN in Lima, Peru; she will share knowledge, inspiration and ideas gained there with other Area Leaders
A mini-conference by The Breastfeeding Center in coordination with LLL Montgomery County East, Pennsylvania, USA with CERPS offered and open to lactation professionals as well as LLL Leaders
Supporting Paula Rodriguez Arredondo, LLL Leader from the Dominican Republic to participate in the LLL IAN International Conference in Lima, Peru; she has committed to accrediting at least three new Leaders in the six months following the award and will train as a Communication Skills Facilitator; additionally, she is organizing a public event to celebrate thirty-five years of LLL Republica Dominicana
Assisting Zulma Graciela Chera Ramirez, LLL Leader in Paraguay, in her efforts to create and translate culturally sensitive breastfeeding content in the Guarani language, widely spoken throughout Paraguay, and currently without breastfeeding resources
Funding for a screening of the “Chocolate Milk” documentary about Black breastfeeding, sponsored by LLL Leaders of Savannah, Georgia, USA in conjunction with Healthy Savannah, follow up meetings after the screening and The Art of Breastfeeding copies given to forty pregnant or nursing mothers attending the screening, plus 24 copies of TAB donated to the twelve branches of the Savannah Public Libraries
Micelys Torres Sanchez, LLL Leader from Havana, Cuba, plus two Leader Applicants were given assistance to participate in the LLL IAN International Conference in Lima, Peru with plans to educate other Cuban Leaders
Community screening of “Chocolate Milk” during Black Maternal Health Week in Nebraska, USA with Q&A following with local lactation professionals and advocates, a raffle for three copies of The Art of Breastfeeding, and a raffle for a partial scholarship for a B.L.A.C.K. Certified Lactation Consultant course

Join Us at a Friends of LLL Chat

Do you miss the sense of community you felt at LLL Series Meetings or Leader/Leader Applicant Days? Every month, members of Friends of La Leche League meet online for a discussion on an interesting topic in a warm, relaxed, and caring atmosphere.

Our monthly Chats are a popular benefit of membership, and a great way for members to get to know new people, stay in touch, and support each other. We welcome first-time participants to attend a Chat and see if they like it before joining Friends of LLL. Please contact Jo-Anne if you would like to volunteer to lead a discussion. Information about each month’s Chat and details about how to register are published each month on our website News Page.

Honoring LLL Friends

For more than twenty years, Friends of La Leche League has honored deceased LLL Leaders through the “We Remember” program. Leaders are listed on our website by name and year of death. A ceremony in which the Leaders names are read was initiated at the 2001 LLL International Conference and has been held at conferences and Friends of LLL trips since then. To honor all deceased Leaders, we urge Friends who learn of the death of any LLL Leader to pass along information using this “We Remember” Form.

Friends of LLL also wants to honor all individuals who have inspired us. Our Tributes page includes personalized tributes honoring special people. Tributes are posted on our website for one year and included in Continuum magazine. You can write a tribute honoring someone important to you by using this form.

The “Honors” option on our main menu provides direct access to the “We Remember” and Tributes pages and forms. Friends of La Leche League is proud to honor those who have inspired us.

Membership

For $30 per year (or $75 for three years), Friends of La Leche League members receive our online newsletter Continuum. Members are also eligible for members’ events (like our monthly chats) and discounts on registration fees for Friends of La Leche League trips. To join or renew your membership, please join here.

Donations

Friends of La Leche League welcomes donations that fund our operations or specifically to support our Mini-Grants program. If you would like to make a donation, please donate here.

Tributes

Friends of La Leche League tributes provide you the opportunity to honor Friends, colleagues, family, mentors, or cherished friends. Tributes appear in our members’ newsletter, Continuum and are published on the website for one year. Please see our current tribute listings.

Annual tributes are just $20 each. If you wish to honor someone special to you, please make a tribute here.

YouTube Channel

Videos created by Friends of LLL can be viewed on the Friends of La Leche League YouTube channel which you can access here.

Facebook Feed

Friends of La Leche League

3 hours ago

Today the spotlight is on mental health and we want to talk about the importance of being ‘heard’. Your decisions about your and your baby’s health matter. If you want to breastfeed your child, then you deserve the very best support possible in making that happen.To repeat what we said a few days ago at the end of National Breastfeeding Week; Your voice matters. You deserve all of the information. You deserve patience. You deserve respect.When we give respect and patience, we give space, we give you the confidence to know that you can do this. One of the biggest parts of being a La Leche League Leader is knowing how to listen, how to hold space.At La Leche League of Ireland, we Listen with a capital L.#WorldMentalHealthDay #holdingspace #lalecheleague #breastfeedingsupport #newparents #pregnantireland ...

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Friends of La Leche League

3 hours ago

Today is World Mental Health Day. Take time to nurture your mental health today - check in with yourself (and loved ones) and spend some time building your network of support.😩Having a baby can be a totally overwhelming experience. If you or someone you know hasn't been feeling quite like themselves either while pregnant or following the birth of a baby, it's important to talk about it. Changes in mental health are some of the most common issues that come up in pregnancy and postpartum. You're not alone, it's not your fault, and with help you will be well.💗To learn more about the mental health resources, information and supports available to parents and partners in the perinatal period and beyond, or to connect with mental health support, please visit the link in our bio. While you’re there check out "Seeds Of Hope". It's a helpful guide for anyone who is pregnant, thinking of becoming pregnant; or anyone who has had a baby, as well as their partners, families and trusted supporters and anyone else who is interested in learning more about perinatal mental health. Remember, we are stronger together💜🤱🏽Have questions about your milk supply or latch? Looking for resources & information to make the next stage of nursing or pumping while caring for your little one and yourself easier? Whether you're pregnant, you just gave birth, or are getting ready to wean - we're here to help every step of the way. Visit the link in our bio to connect with lactation support.💊👉Worried you need to stop nursing or pumping in order to seek treatment? In almost all cases it is safe to continue if you need to take medication, though some medications may be safer than others. Ask your health care provider to check one of the trusted sources listed below for up-to-date information.💊 Infant Risk Center💊 E-Lactancia💊 Mother To Baby#WorldMentalHealthDay #Postpartum #Perinatal #MentalHealth #MentalHealthMatters #Parenting #Pregnancy #Lactation #Breastfeeding #Chestfeeding #Pumping #LactationSupport #BreastfeedingSupport ...

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Friends of La Leche League

19 hours ago

The bronze sculpture "Woman Running and Lifting a Child" (often called Mother and Child) by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). Mounted on the 100-meter-long Bridge in Vigeland Sculpture Park (inside Frogner Park) in Oslo, Norway. ...

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Friends of La Leche League

2 days ago

🚨🚨 BREAKING: Research catches up with physiology....Don't want to push for a long time in labor? Just don't push for a while and use gravity. Then you might end up pushing less than 15 minutes!Is purple pushing FINALLY on its way out? While many facilities and providers have stepped away from strong and forceful purple pushing, variations of it still exist. This often leaves parents pushing for 1, 2, or even 3 hours - especially in first births and with epidurals. Despite awareness of the fetal ejection reflex and birth being a normal physiological process, modern obstetrics left many believing we MUST push as soon as we reach full dilation. Yet this often leaves moms pushing for hours.Research from Besançon University Hospital, France looked at over 10,000 term singleton births. Their research concluded: Under a delayed pushing policy of up to 3 hours, active pushing remained less than 15 minutes, supporting high rates of spontaneous vaginal birth and potentially reducing the need for instrumental delivery.While there are occasional situations where directed pushing might be indicated (baby showing signs if distress, signs of cord compression, etc.), research is showing what midwives, many l&d nurses, and doulas have observed: birth needs patience. 👇🏽 Did you labor down or push as soon as you were fully dilated? Study below. #ididoula #doula #doulatraining #pregnancy #birth ...

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Friends of La Leche League

2 days ago

Leaders in Lactation: Dr. Katie HindeDecember 2, 2025Barbara L. Philipp, MDDec 02, 2025"“In 2008, Katie Hinde stood in a California primate lab staring at hundreds of milk samples. Male babies got richer milk. Females got more volume. Science had missed half the conversation.She was a postdoctoral researcher at the California National Primate Research Center, analyzing milk from rhesus macaque mothers.For months, she’d been measuring fat content, protein levels, mineral concentrations. The data showed something she hadn’t expected: monkey mothers were producing completely different milk depending on whether they’d given birth to sons or daughters.Sons received milk with higher concentrations of fat and protein – more energy per ounce. Daughters received more milk overall, with higher calcium levels. The biological recipe wasn’t universal. It was customized.Hinde ran the numbers again. The pattern held across dozens of mother-infant pairs. This wasn’t random variation. This was systematic.She thought about what she’d been taught in graduate school. Milk was nutrition. Calories, proteins, fats. A delivery system for energy. But if milk was just fuel, why would it differ based on the baby’s sex? Why would mothers unconsciously adjust the formula?The answer shifted everything: milk wasn’t passive. It was a message.Hinde had arrived at this question through an unusual path. She’d earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Washington, then completed her PhD at UCLA in 2008. While most lactation research focused on dairy cattle or developing infant formulas, Hinde wanted to understand what milk actually did in primate mothers and babies.At UC Davis, she had access to the largest primate research center in the United States. She could collect milk samples at different stages of lactation, track infant development, measure maternal characteristics.She could ask questions that had never been systematically studied.Like: why do young mothers produce milk with more stress hormones?Hinde discovered that first-time monkey mothers produced milk with fewer calories but higher concentrations of cortisol than experienced mothers. Babies who consumed this high-cortisol milk grew faster but were more nervous and less confident. The milk wasn’t just feeding the baby’s body—it was programming the baby’s temperament.Or: how does milk respond when babies get sick?Working with researchers who studied infant illness, Hinde found that when babies developed infections, their mothers’ milk changed within hours. The white blood cell count in the milk increased dramatically—from around 2,000 cells per milliliter to over 5,000 during acute illness. Macrophage counts quadrupled. The levels returned to normal once the baby recovered.The mechanism was remarkable: when a baby nurses, small amounts of the baby’s saliva travel back through the nipple into the mother’s breast tissue. That saliva contains information about the baby’s immune status. If the baby is fighting an infection, the mother’s body detects the antigens and begins producing specific antibodies, which then flow back to the baby through the milk.It was a dialogue. The baby’s body communicated its needs. The mother’s body responded.Hinde started documenting everything. She collected milk from over 250 rhesus macaque mothers across more than 700 sampling events. She measured cortisol, adiponectin, epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factors. She tracked which babies gained weight faster, which were more exploratory, which were more cautious.She realized she was mapping a language that had been invisible.In 2011, Hinde joined Harvard as an assistant professor. She began writing about her findings, but she also noticed something troubling: almost nobody was studying human breast milk with the same rigor applied to other biological systems. When she searched publication databases, she found twice as many studies on erectile dysfunction as on breast milk composition.The world’s first food—the substance that had nourished every human who ever lived—was scientifically neglected.She started a blog: “Mammals Suck...Milk!” The title was deliberately provocative. Within a year, it had over a million views. Parents, clinicians, researchers started asking questions. What bioactive compounds are in human milk? How does milk from mothers of premature babies differ from milk produced for full-term infants? Can we use this knowledge to improve formulas or help babies in NICUs?Hinde’s research expanded. She studied how milk changes across the day (fat concentration peaks mid-morning). She investigated how foremilk differs from hindmilk (babies with bigger appetites who nurse longer get higher-fat milk at the end of feeding). She examined how maternal characteristics—age, parity, health status, social rank—shaped milk composition.In 2013, she created March Mammal Madness, a science outreach event that became an annual tradition in hundreds of classrooms.In 2014, she co-authored “Building Babies.”In 2016, she received the Ehrlich-Koldovsky Early Career Award from the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation for making outstanding contributions to the field.By 2017, when she delivered her TED talk, she could articulate what she’d discovered across a decade of research: breast milk is food, medicine, and signal. It builds the baby’s body and fuels the baby’s behavior. It carries bacteria that colonize the infant gut, hormones that influence metabolism, oligosaccharides that feed beneficial microbes, immune factors that protect against pathogens. More than 200 varieties of oligosaccharides alone. The baby can’t even digest them—they exist to nourish the right community of gut bacteria, preventing harmful pathogens from establishing.The composition is as unique as a fingerprint. No two mothers produce identical milk. No two babies receive identical nutrition.In 2020, Hinde appeared in the Netflix docuseries “Babies,” explaining her findings to a mass audience. She’d moved to Arizona State University, where she now directs the Comparative Lactation Lab. Her research continues to reveal new dimensions of how milk shapes infant outcomes from the first hours of life through childhood.She works on precision medicine applications—using knowledge of milk bioactives to help the most fragile infants in neonatal intensive care units. She consults on formula development, helping companies create products that better replicate the functional properties of human milk for mothers who face obstacles to breastfeeding.The implications extend beyond individual families. Understanding milk informs public health policy, workplace lactation support, clinical recommendations. It reveals how maternal characteristics, environmental conditions, and infant needs interact in real time through a biological messaging system that’s been evolving for 200 million years—longer than dinosaurs.Katie Hinde didn’t just study milk. She revealed that the most ancient form of nourishment was also the most sophisticated. What science had treated as simple nutrition was actually a dynamic, responsive communication between two bodies—a conversation that shapes human development one feeding at a time.” (1)ReferencesText and photo taken directly from The Two Pennies — On Facebookthelactationcollege.substack.com/p/leaders-in-lactation-dr-katie-hinde ...

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