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Article: La Leche League
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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La Leche League
In 1956 seven women organized the La Leche League to defend the traditional practices of breast-feeding and natural childbirth. From its beginnings as a small discussion group in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park, Illinois, the League grew rapidly and by 1981 sponsored 4,000 support groups, a monthly newsletter, and a telephone hotline. The group promoted its ideology through the sales of millions of books, leaflets, and the best-selling
Womanly Art of Breastfeeding,
first published in 1958.
League founders were white, middle-class, Catholic women who believed that babies and small children required the continuous presence of their mothers. The League ideology of ...