Reaching Out For Help: How La Leche League Leaders Provide Support
We are thrilled to share a recent interaction between Love Anderson, cofounder of Breastfeed Durham and La Leche League (LLL) Leader, and Sarah, a parent of identical twin boys. This interaction was featured in the National La Leche League blog and highlights the value of peer-to-peer support and the impact it can have on a parent’s breastfeeding journey.
In Sarah’s initial email, she reached out to Love for guidance on how to get started with breastfeeding support for multiples. Love’s response was both informative and reassuring, sharing local resources, including an LLL book, a Facebook group, and a monthly Zoom meeting focusing on multiples. Love also connected Sarah with an LLL Leader who has twins and offered helpful tips for managing the challenges of breastfeeding and caring for two infants while also looking after two older children.
Below is the information that Love put together.
- Join us online in Durham. We now have 4 meetings per month. https://LLLdurham.org
- There is a book written by LLL, but it is old: Mothering Multiples: Breastfeeding and Caring for Twins or More! (La Leche League International Book) Paperback
- I have worked with an LLL Leader, Taylor Aguirre, who is the mom of twins and lives in another state. She not Leading any more because she is now working as an IBCLC.
- There is also a monthly Zoom focusing on multiples, co-hosted by an active Leader along with retired Leader Karen Gromada (author of the Mothering Multiples book published by LLL). The Meeting time changes a lot, so best to message the page admins or make sure that you are looking at a very current post to get the most current info, there are lot of outdated meeting times mentioned in various places.
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/nursingmultiplesonlinemeeting/
- This group has been created as a space to hold online monthly La Leche League (LLL) meetings on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at Noon to 1 pm EST for those expecting twins, triplets or more and planning to breastfeed and for those currently breastfeeding and/or expressed-breastmilk-feeding multiple-birth infants or children.
The interaction didn’t end there. Months later, Sarah reached out to Love again to express her gratitude for the support and guidance she received during her journey as a twin mom. Love’s kind and informative words helped her feel seen and helped in a way that no one else offered.
This story showcases the importance of peer-to-peer support and the incredible impact it can have on a parent’s breastfeeding journey. Breastfeed Durham is proud to be a part of the La Leche League community, where Leaders like Love are making a positive difference in the lives of parents and children.
If you’re a parent of parent of twins or multiples, we encourage you to reach out to your local LLL group for support and guidance. You can find your local group using the LLL USA locator.
We celebrate Love’s contribution to the LLL community and wish all parents of multiples the best in their breastfeeding journey!
At Breastfeed Durham and LLL, we offer support to all who want to breastfeed, whether you are pregnant, facing a challenge, breastfeeding is going smoothly, or you’d like to help support others. We are committed to diversity and inclusion and support all breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding families, inclusive of their race, ethnicity, immigration status, national origin, creed, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, family structure, primary language, ability, or socio-economic status.
We celebrate Love’s contribution to the LLL community and her commitment to supporting parents in their breastfeeding journey. Breastfeed Durham and LLL are proud to offer peer-to-peer support and resources for all families.
To learn more about breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding, and to receive weekly support, we encourage you to subscribe to the New Beginnings blog published by LLL USA at https://lllusa.org/blog/.