Good Morning. I am so pleased and honored to be invited back to the ILCA conference. Thank you for the opportunity. The first ILCA conference I attended was in 1990. It was the fifth annual conference, located in a lovely facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. The conference was titled Lactation Consultant: Educator, Nurturer, Agent for Change.It is so wonderful to be a part of this conference because you exude such energy, passion, and compassion in the work that you do. And, you just know that visionary thinkers and leaders exist in this great auditorium as I speak. In this very hall are committed leaders with visionary thinking who did not look at the dismal breastfeeding rates of the 70s and early 80s and ask the question "why?" but who looked at the possibilities and said, "why not?"These visionaries met, planned, formed strategies, and followed with action. And the year 2015 will mark 30 years since that first exam was administered by IBLCE. And these visionary thinkers and leaders began the process of creating a culture of breastfeeding that included developing the appropriate partnerships and collaborations, and dissemination of education and information through your journals.While the work is not yet done, look at WHAT you have done and what you are doing to create a culture of breastfeeding in this country and around the world. And, I would like to pose this question: Had there been no ILCA, where would breastfeeding be today?My topic today is addressing disparities by creating a culture of breastfeeding.Everyone in this room knows about a changing culture. We are all experiencing culture change that is driven by technology. We are attached to our cell phones and tablets. And for good reason: we use them for phone calls and text messaging. We use them for music, maps, and notes. We can read our favorite books and magazines. We can visit our friends through FaceTime. We have words in our vocabulary like tweet, Twitter, and Instagram. In our cars, we can key in our destination and a voice directs us how to get there.As technology has changed, our culture has changed. Culture plays such a significant role in the process by which we make health care decisions, including breastfeeding decisions. In our workshop, which was held earlier this week, we 556538J HLXXX10.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract