A mother’s job is never done, especially for a group of local women celebrating the second anniversary of Malibu’s La Leche League.
Malibu mothers Romy Karz Rapoport and Sarah Kern Possick launched a local chapter of the international nonprofit group La Leche League in June 2012 to provide support for breastfeeding mothers and families.
“It took a while to get the Malibu League started, but now it seems like every meeting, there are more people,” Rapoport said. “The meetings always go long because there’s so much energy, and it’s great to see the mothers gain confidence. Some start coming when they’re still pregnant.”
The mission of La Leche League, founded in 1959, is to help breastfeeding mothers worldwide with mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information and education, and to promote the practice as an important element in a baby’s healthy development.
A traditional monthly meeting covers four topics, reviews the benefits of breastfeeding and helps mothers through the weaning process.
“Breastfeeding isn’t just for nutrition,” said Rapoport. “It also provides the baby a feeling of safety, comfort and connection.”
Meetings are organized, but informal. Mothers come with their babies, toddlers, strollers and gear, sit in a big circle, and are free to take care of their child’s needs at any time. Specific questions or concerns about breastfeeding are addressed by the leaders as well as other mothers with similar experiences.
At last week’s June meeting, hot topics included the “when and why” of using breast pumps, knowing when a baby has had enough with a bottle versus a breast, new kinds of bottles on the market, and a new “Milky Way” documentary about breast feeding.
Possick fielded a number of individual questions, with other moms chiming in, like what to do for nipple pain, how to breast feed while lying down, whether a baby needs to drink plain water in addition to milk, and the best first food to give a baby.
One of the moms, Jenny Kessler, said, “I wish I would’ve taken some classes. That’s why I’m coming here now with my second child.”
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there. We have a lot of moms that are thankful they came to the group,” Rapoport said. She and Possick both gave examples of new mothers who were given bad advice by well-meaning friends, mothers and grandmothers.
They say some of the most common questions mothers ask at the meetings are: Can I breastfeed with a cold? Am I making enough milk? How do I know if my baby is getting enough milk?
Even mothers having their second, third or fourth child can run into problems.
“The second child can be completely different in breastfeeding than the first,” said Rapoport. “There’s so much people don’t understand, and doctors can make them feel inadequate. For example, many don’t know that it’s normal for a newborn to lose weight. The mothers are so vulnerable with all their hormonal fluctuations.”
Rapoport, a certified childbirth educator, pre- and post natal yoga instructor and lactation specialist, is a former ballerina with the New York City Ballet. After her son, Gabriel, was born in 1996, she became passionate about supporting other new mothers.
“I felt like I was so lonely when I had my son, because I’d just moved from New York and hadn’t made friends yet. I didn’t have a network. After I became involved in the childbirth field, I found a huge need for breastfeeding support and wanted to bring that support to Malibu moms,” Rapoport said. “I’d known about La Leche League for years. My mom went to it, and it’s always been free.”
Rapoport approached Sarah Kern Possick, a former attorney, wedding planner and mother of two, about co-leading a La Leche League group together. After fulfilling the organization’s leadership training requirements and visiting other local chapters in Thousand Oaks and West LA, the two launched the Malibu chapter in June 2012.
“I love it. Every chapter becomes a community for the families, and the kids grow up together. You connect and you’re like-minded,” Rapoport said. “We have anywhere from four to 15 mothers at every meeting. We feel good when we see them exchanging phone numbers afterwards.”
The Malibu chapter meets the first Friday of every month in the Malibu Public Library Community Room at 10:00 a.m. (before library hours, so knock on the door), except next month it’s July 11.
