La Leche League of Northern Arizona

Breastfeeding moms need good information and encouragement. In this day and age, breastfeeding can be a lonely experience, or it can become the most profound thing you’ll ever do. You decide! Studies have shown that the satisfaction of many mothers is enhanced by the support they receive at La Leche League meetings. It’s a casual place where you and your baby are welcome. Practical help and up-to-date information are shared, and friendships with other mothers can be formed. If you are a woman considering breastfeeding or already breastfeeding, La Leche League welcomes you, your nursing baby and your young children to our monthly meetings.

Membership Information

Membership is available. The annual dues are $40/year and you will receive a subscription to New Beginnings! It is a wonderful magazine full of the latest breastfeeding information and reader write-in’s to share how they handled specific issues plus much more! A portion of the $40 fee goes to support La Leche League International in their goal of helping mothers world wide. Another portion goes to La Leche League of Arizona to help support leaders state wide with continuing education opportunities and conferences. And the remaining portion stays at the local group to purchase new books for the lending library, and pay for upcoming conference registrations, etc. Tax deductable donations are also welcome. Membership is not required to attend La Leche League meetings.

What you shouldn’t worry about

La Leche League believes that the Baby’s needs always come first. Feel free to meet the needs of the baby (feeding, diaper change, etc.) whenever at a meeting. Never worry about being “late” to a meeting, as mothers we all understand how difficult it is to get out the door. The important thing is that you make it and enjoy the suport and camaraderie with other mothers.

The basic philosophy of La Leche League is summarized in the following statements:

• Mothering through breastfeeding is the most natural and effective way of understanding and satisfying the needs of the baby.
• Mother and baby need to be together early and often to establish a satisfying relationship and an adequate milk supply.
• In the early years the baby has an intense need to be with his mother which is as basic as his need for food.
• Breast milk is the superior infant food.
• For the healthy, full-term baby, breast milk is the only food necessary until the baby shows signs of needing solids, about the middle of the first year after birth.
• Ideally the breastfeeding relationship will continue until the baby outgrows the need.
• Alert and active participation by the mother in childbirth is a help in getting breastfeeding off to a good start.
• Breastfeeding is enhanced and the nursing couple sustained by the loving support, help, and companionship of the baby’s father. A father’s unique relationship with his baby is an important element in the child’s development from early infancy.
• Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as close to their natural state as possible.

• From infancy on, children need loving guidance which reflects acceptance of their capabilities and sensitivity to their feelings.

La Leche League was founded to give information and encouragement, mainly through personal help, to all mothers who want to breastfeed their babies. While complementing the care of the physician and other health care professionals, it recognizes the unique importance of one mother helping another to perceive the needs of her child and to learn the best means of fulfilling those needs.
LLL believes that breastfeeding, with its many important physical and psychological advantages, is best for baby and mother and is the ideal way to initiate good parent-child relationships. The loving help and support of the father enables the mother to focus on mothering so that together the parents develop close relationships which strengthen the family and thus the whole fabric of society.
LLL further believes that mothering through breastfeeding deepens a mother’s understanding and acceptance of the responsibilities and rewards of her special role in the family. As a woman grows in mothering she grows as a human being, and every other role she may fill in her lifetime is enriched by the insights and humanity she brings to it from her experiences as a mother.
The League’s purpose is distinct. This singleness of purpose does not prevent interaction with other organizations with compatible purposes, but La Leche League will carefully guard against allying itself with another cause, however worthwhile that cause may be.