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La Leche League International
Funding Proposal to the Isdell Family Foundation
Information for Global “Baby-Friendly” Hospitals
Organization Background
Founded in 1956, La Leche League International (LLLI) is recognized as an authority on
breastfeeding. Its mission is to help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother
support, encouragement, information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of
breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother.
This mission is carried out in over 68 countries by thousands of accredited volunteer Leaders—
mothers who have breastfed their own children and received training by LLLI—who provide
breastfeeding information and support at no cost.
Developed in coordination with major medical associations, LLLI educational resources provide
the latest information on breastfeeding. Over the years this information has been the foundation
for the implementation of educational seminars for physicians as well as international
conferences for the public that allow for an exchange of ideas between parents and professionals.
La Leche League International maintains a virtual global reference library of information on
breastfeeding, and publishes and distributes thousands of books and periodicals on breastfeeding,
including versions in dozens of languages and Braille. The state-of-the-art LLLI Web site offers
a plethora of supportive breastfeeding resources and directs families from around the world to
LLL Leaders in their community that can provide them with local support.
LLLI is an active partner with organizations who also strive to develop global strategies that will
promote the benefits of breastfeeding. These organizations include the World Alliance for
Breastfeeding Action (WABA), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Child
Survival Collaborations and Resources Group (CORE).
Breastfeeding Facts
The hospital environment is a key area where care providers can make a difference because their
knowledge and influence can both improve infant health and decrease infant mortality rates.
Numerous studies conclude that optimal health benefits are obtained from early breastfeeding
initiation and adequate duration.
Breast milk is a baby’s first immunization and provides benefits that last a lifetime. Studies have
proven that breast milk is the most complete form of nutrition for infants and contains antibodies
that protect them from bacterial and viral infections. Breastfeeding mothers benefit from a lower
risk of breast cancer, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Breastfeeding entails a significant economic advantage as fewer illnesses for breastfed babies
mean fewer visits to the doctor and stays in the hospital. For families with limited financial
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resources it is unquestionably the most cost effective feeding method. It has been estimated that
if recipients of US government assistance would replace one month of formula with breast milk
there would be an annual savings of $29 million. Such savings are possible around the world
because women who breastfeed enrich their local economies by reducing health care costs and
conserving energy.
Breastfeeding also benefits the environment because it does not necessitate electricity or gas for
heating or for cleaning containers. Human milk is not mass-produced and packaged so it does not
increase pollution of the air, water, and land.
In times of disasters or emergencies, there is often a risk of contamination with food and water
supplies, but because breastfeeding does not necessitate clean water to sterilize bottles it is the
safest form of feeding for infants during these crises. The promotion of breastfeeding and
distribution of accurate information—whether during a crisis or not—will save the lives of
babies around the world.
A Global Leader in Breastfeeding Informational Materials
For over 50 years, La Leche League International has been a leading voice in the promotion of
breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother. The
LLLI method of mother-to-mother support and encouragement has proved to be very successful
but without the accurate, evidence-based information produced by LLLI, volunteer Leaders
would be ill-equipped to provide the best support possible to pregnant and nursing mothers
worldwide.
Leaders and health care professionals around the world continue to utilize LLLI publications as a
primary source of information, providing background information, research findings and the
accumulated knowledge of mothers from the last 50 years. Formats of this material range from
succinct leaflets, tear-off sheets, and booklets to the cornerstone books of LLLI, The Womanly
Art of Breastfeeding and The Breastfeeding Answer Book.
Other publications target specific audiences:
• Journal for Leaders—ex. Leaven in the United States. Various global Leader journals
exist to inform and inspire active LLL Leaders and keep them current with the latest
breastfeeding research and information.
• Journal for Members—ex. New Beginnings in the United States or Close to the Heart in
Asia. These journals provide information and inspiration to mothers through narrative
stories and inspirational passages that can be used in LLL meetings.
• Journal for Health Care Professionals—Breastfeeding Abstracts in the U.S. and similar
journals include abstracts or summaries of recent research on breastfeeding from medical
literature, current topics of interest in the field of lactation, and reviews of professional
books.
The wide variety of publications that La Leche League International has developed over the
years has greatly supported the LLLI mission and broadened its outreach to the world at large.
LLLI recently developed succinct pocket guides and continues to update its informative tear-off
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sheets. The guide is a comprehensive resource while the sheets provide “snapshots” of various
issues, such as Introducing Complementary Foods, Sore Nipples, and Breastfeeding After a
Cesarean. Both pieces allow for easy distribution and facilitate relatively quick translations.
Despite the significant strides LLLI has made, an overview of health issues affecting babies and
mothers around the world highlights the vital necessity of broadening and increasing the
distribution of this accurate breastfeeding information.
The Need for LLLI Information & Global Information Distribution Proposal
Many health care professionals around the world consider La Leche League International to be a
considerable expert on breastfeeding support. At the same time, there are many professionals
who do not understand the important health benefits of breast milk and who give incorrect or
inaccurate information to pregnant or nursing mothers.
Outside of the healthcare field—in various global communities—are millions of women who
know nothing about breastfeeding or, even worse, have many misconceptions about it. Such false
notions have contributed to low breastfeeding initiation rates and brief duration. It’s even more
alarming to consider that the resulting poor health, high infant mortality rates, and low quality of
life are nearly entirely preventable through proper breastfeeding and infant feeding practices.
This is where La Leche League International can make a difference. The establishment of
partnerships between LLLI and “baby-friendly” hospitals and health care centers around the
globe can ensure that health care professionals—obstetricians, pediatricians, nurses, lactation
consultants, etc.—receive the most current information on breastfeeding and tips for solving
common problems such as latch-on and positioning. LLLI materials are extremely essential in
these facilities since health care professionals are highly respected and trusted sources of
information.
Baby-Friendly Facilities—Going Global
Previous support from The Isdell Family Foundation in 2008 enabled La Leche League
International to update relevant material and distribute New Mother Packets—at no cost—to
5,000 new mothers through “baby-friendly” hospitals and health care community centers in the
United States.
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was started in 1991 by the World Health
Organization and UNICEF in an effort to ensure that all maternities, whether free standing or in
a hospital, become centers of breastfeeding support. A facility can be designated as “baby-
friendly” when it does not accept free or low-cost breast milk substitutes, feeding bottles or teats,
and has implemented 10 specific steps to support successful breastfeeding. Since its inception,
the BFHI has awarded the “baby-friendly” status to more than 20,000 facilities in over 152
countries—79 of these facilities are in the U.S. alone.
Research about breastfeeding misconceptions in various geographic areas around the world
illuminates astounding substantiation for the global need for La Leche League International
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educational resources. Consider the following practices that currently contribute to infant and
child malnutrition—and thus continued health problems—in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Country Current Belief or Practice Optimal Belief or Practice
China
Hospital visitors bring gifts to be consumed by
the baby. Infant formula is given to nearly one-
third of mothers.
Breast milk is insufficient and the more quickly
the baby gains weight the healthier the baby is.
Early formula introduction leads to low exclusive
breastfeeding rates and results diminish benefits.
For the majority of mother-baby dyads, breast milk
is sufficient to meet the baby’s needs. The more
often you breastfeed, the more milk is produced.
Bolivia
Many mothers believe that male infants need
more nutrition than female infants and thus
formula is introduced early.
Regardless of gender, infants obtain optimal
benefits through breastfeeding that are greatly
diminished through early supplement introduction.
India
Breastfeeding is often delayed until 2-3 days
postpartum because milk is “not ready.”
Breast milk does not provide enough nutrition or
sustenance, so prelacteal feeds are introduced
early and often.
Breast milk often comes in quickly.
Prelacteal feeds are potentially harmful to a
newborn. They can introduce infection, sensitize the
gut to foreign proteins, or delay the onset of
lactation.
West
Indies
Women can’t afford to breastfeed because it
requires a diet of 3,000 calories per day.
Breastfeeding is actually the most economically
advantageous form of infant feeding and
necessitates a caloric increase of only 500 per day.
Zambia
Colostrum, the first secretion from the
mammary glands after birth, is “dirty” or it is
“just water” and should therefore be discarded.
Colostrum, rich in antibodies, is extremely valuable
and nutritious. It may reduce or protect against
neonatal septicaemia, diarrhoea and acute
respiratory infections, reducing infant mortality.
Desired Support & Evaluation
LLLI would like to request $50,000 from the Isdell Family Foundation to provide breastfeeding
materials to 25 Baby-Friendly hospitals and facilities in the geographic areas of Africa, Asia, and
Latin America for distribution to new mothers upon discharge from the hospital.
Funds would support translation and cultural adaptation of the LLLI breastfeeding guide and 5
tear-off information sheets into a variety of languages. Support from the Isdell Family
Foundation will also cover the printing costs and shipping of these educational materials to the
“baby-friendly” hospitals.
Evaluation tools—in survey format—will be utilized to acquire feedback and suggestions for
improvement from recipient Baby-Friendly facilities. Local LLL Leaders who have a
relationship with these facilities, may be able to gather feedback from mothers who received
these packets.
Moving forward, once translations are complete and initial shipments have been distributed,
online communications between La Leche League International and these facilities can lead to
further distribution of our materials.
Throughout this process, every effort will be made to identify a valuable network of resources
for the distribution of LLLI materials, including translation reviewers and printing facilities.
Therefore, supplementary funding resources are being sought. Through its 2008 year-end
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campaign, LLLI listed translations as one of its projects for funding and a portion of the received
revenue was allocated to this important need.
Budget:
Printing $16,760.00
Breastfeeding Guide (50 pages)
(25,000 copies @ $.26 per guide=$6,500)
Tear-off Sheets (Pad of 50 sheets)
Breastfeeding Tips (dual language with English on one side)
(500 pads x 6 languages x $1.90 per pad=$5,700)
Is My Breastfed Baby Getting Enough Milk
Breastfeeding After Cesarean Birth
Are Your Nipples Sore?
Introducing Complementary Foods to Your Breastfed Baby
(4 tear-off sheets, 100 for each of the 6 languages @ $1.90 per pad=$4,560)
Translations $23,440.00
Breastfeeding Guide (50 pages)
Languages: Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Arabic, French
(4 languages @ $2,918 per language=$11,672)
Tear-off Sheets (Pad of 50 sheets)
Breastfeeding Tips (dual language with English on one side)
Languages: Traditional Chinese, Arabic, French, Japanese & Afrikaans
(NOTE: Already translated into Spanish in March 2009)
(5 languages, excluding English & Spanish, @ $222.10 per language=$1,111)
Is My Breastfed Baby Getting Enough Milk
Breastfeeding After Cesarean Birth
Are Your Nipples Sore?
Introducing Complementary Foods to Your Breastfed Baby
Languages: Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Arabic, French, Japanese & Afrikaans
(4 tear-off sheets, 6 languages @ $444.00 per language=$10,656)
Shipping $9,800.00
Materials (boxes, packing tape) - $500
Transportation costs - $9,300
TOTAL $50,000.00
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Conclusion
Through collaboration with various LLL entities, LLLI is expanding this project outside the U.S.
to include the 68 countries around the world that contain Baby-Friendly hospitals where LLLI
has a presence. Identification of resources in recipient countries that can translate and culturally
adapt LLLI materials will ensure the resulting information is both relevant and accurate, yielding
optimal mother-to-mother support and healthy babies.
Providing updated breastfeeding information to new mothers and health care professionals
around the world is crucial to decreasing infant mortality rates and improving the health of
babies across the world.
Thank you for your consideration of this proposal from La Leche League International.
9. Grants Committee
Isdell Family Foundation
2180 Monterey Drive
Atlanta, GA 30318
To Members of the Grants Committee:
This letter is in support of the grant proposals submitted by La Leche League International.
As retired Vice President for The Coca-Cola Company, I had the pleasure of working with Neville Isdell and
admire his passion for global health. La Leche League International (LLLI), a global health advocate, is
committed to optimal family health through the practice of breastfeeding as a significant element in the healthy
development of babies worldwide.!
UNICEF stated (2005) that six million lives are saved each year as the result of exclusive breastfeeding. It
provides lifelong benefits for both child and mother that cannot be replicated by artificial means. Human milk is
uniquely suited to an infant’s developmental needs and provides complete nutrition, increasing the survival rate
of infants born around the world—especially those in developing countries. Breastfeeding also lowers a mother’s
risk of developing breast cancer throughout her life, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Furthermore, it’s environmentally sound and economically advantageous to the family and local economy
because it reduces health care costs and conserves energy.
The LLLI mission of providing breastfeeding support at no cost to mothers worldwide is carried out by
thousands of volunteer “Leaders”—mothers who breastfed their own children and were accredited through LLLI.
My wife Susan and I have been involved with LLLI for over 30 years. I have served as a member of the
Management Advisory Council and currently serve as Chairman of the Finance Committee on the LLLI Board of
Directors. Susan has been a volunteer Leader in Atlanta, Georgia since the birth of our oldest daughter, who very
recently received her accreditation as a Leader.
Throughout our association with LLLI, we have been impressed with the organization’s commitment, passion,
and focus in carrying out its mission. Strong leadership and experience in administering successful projects, in
addition to the day-to-day volunteer work of its Leaders, have earned this organization international respect and
productive partnerships with global health organizations.
Thank you for your consideration of this grant request from La Leche League International.
from the desk of
HUGH SWITZER
address
4651 Sentinel View Road
Atlanta, GA 30327
tel (404) 365-9374
May 18, 2009
Hugh Switzer
Chairman, Finance Committee
La Leche League International Board of Directors
Sincerely,
