Breastfeeding benefits you and your baby in many ways, physically as well as emotionally. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for the first year of a baby’s life.

The Kandiyohi County Breastfeeding Coalition’s mission is to promote, support and protect breastfeeding through education, outreach, and collaboration within our culturally diverse community.

The Coalition’s goals are to:

•Empower families to make informed infant feeding decisions with accurate, evidence-based information.

 

•Promote the many benefits of breastfeeding to our communities to ensure that breastfeeding is recognized as the normal and preferred method of feeding infants and young children.

 

•Link healthcare professionals, organizations, breastfeeding families and the community with up-to-date referral and educational materials.

Community Support for Breastfeeding Parents:

•Kandiyohi County Breastfeeding Coalition: 320-231-7860 ext 2551 Marilyn Kemppainen, RN, Certified Lactation Consultant, Kandiyohi County Public Health

 

•Lactation Consultant: 320-231-4807 Jan Maxfield, RN, IBCLC, Rice Hospital

 

•La Leche League: Meetings are held at Calvary Lutheran Church in Willmar, Minnesota on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm. Contact Jackie Hedtke, La Leche League Leader: 320-974-3661 or cellphone: 320-295-1976 Kandiyohi County Public Health Nurse: 320-231-7860

 

•WIC: Women, Infant, and Children Nutrition Program: 320-231-7066

Recommended Books:

•The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League

•Breastfeeding…a Heartstart by Illene S. Rice.

•The Nursing Mother’s Companion by Kathleen Huggins

•The Breastfeeding Answer Book by La Leche League International

•Breastfeeding by Johnson’s

•What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Eisenberg, Murkoff, and Hathoway

Recommended Websites:

•La Leche League International

•ProMOM, Inc.

•Breastfeeding Basics

•American Academey of Pediatrics

•MedlinePlus