PA-Breastfeeding Coalition Minutes of meeting January 24, 2001 by bridge call

Present:
Karen Foard PA-MILC
Carolyn Gilles EFNEP\
Judy Heald EFNEP
Martha Kautz Lancaster County Bf Coalition
Mary Ann Mihok PA Dietetic Association
Chris Mulford PRO-LC (Eastern PA ILCA chapter)
Linda Shaw PA AAP
Jeanne Spencer Laurel Highlands Bf Coalition & PA Academy of Family Practice
Ruth Solomon La Leche League
Kathy Romberger Pinnacle Health System
Ruth Wilf PA Association of Nurse-Midwives

There was a problem with the call set-up. An incorrect phone number had been sent out by mail; the correct number was sent by email but may not have reached the members not on email.

Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held October 11, 2000, were approved.

Treasurer's report
The current treasury balance is $1145.70.

Income was received from interest (about $7.00) and from dues/donations ($270).

Money was spent for postage, website costs, and printing our poster.

Kathy will declare the Coalition's interest for the year in her own federal tax return and will donate the $1.00 or so in extra tax this causes her. However, once our non-profit status is granted, she will not have to do this.

501 C(3) application
Martha will email the information to Kathy to get a check written for the application.

Once the form has been signed, Martha will send it in with the check. Martha will retain a copy for the file, and Karen Foard has one as well.

Martha voiced our special thanks to Karen for guiding us through the application process.

Members are reminded that we all should keep track of our in-kind donations to the coalition, such as time we spend on projects and meetings, as well as postage, phone, or other expenses. There will be a column on the sign-in sheet at the April meeting where these donations can be recorded.

Poster
Barbara Shocker sent a report via Martha. 500 copies of our 11 x 14 poster have been printed. They will be brought to the April meeting for distribution. Barbara is willing to mail them out if people are in a hurry and will cover mailing costs.

Membership
Rosa sent a report via Martha. Four people have inquired about membership. Martha will ask Rosa to send out membership information and brochure. Rosa has drafted a "new member" letter and updated the brochure as discussed in October. She plans a membership mailing with a dues reminder on May 1. Dues are due in July.

Tasha Dersham has spoken to Bill Cochrane, who wants to remain a member and will write an article on gastro-esophageal reflux for our newsletter in lieu of attending meetings. Thus he will qualify as an active member, and would pay the same dues as other active members.

Provider Education Committee
In addition to the poster (reported above), Jeanne and Linda reported on plans for a telephone conference on breastfeeding. This will be coordinated with the PA-AAP, which does a one-hour telephone conference approximately monthly. The likely date will be in May, and the format will be presentation of three case studies: #1, a four-day-old who has not latched on; #2, a mother with sore nipples; #3, a baby with jaundice. Participants must pre-register; then the AAP sends them handouts. They receive one hour of CME credit.

This program has the potential to reach 250-500 or more pediatric offices throughout the state. In many practices, several staff members listen in together. The PA-AFP will also publicize the program to their members.

One goal of the program is to show how a physician can use LCs and other resources to assist with the management of breastfeeding problems. Thus, we want to have both doctors and LCs as presenters.

After discussion, the members who were made responsible for tasks were as follows:

Jeanne will send scenarios for the three cases to Chris, who will email to Ruth Wilf (and anyone else who wants to see them).

Jeanne will add an objective along the lines of "explain the impact of medical

interventions on the establishment of breastfeeding"

Chris will invite Lori Feldman-Winter (AAP Bf Coordinator in NJ) to co-present case #1 with her.

Kay Hoover will do #2, with Jeanne chiming in about medications.

Jeanne will ask Nancy Brent to do #3.

Linda will check with PA-AAP to see whether they will supply a moderator or whether it is up to us. Also she'll ask for a list of the offices that participate, so our members can do local follow-up. We understand that AAP takes cares of evaluating the program, but if an eval form needs to be designed, Mary Ann volunteers to do that.

The handout will include:

a) a list of a few top resources: Wellstart, Hale, Milk Banks, BFHI, ABM,

the AAP Section on Bf, any AAFP resource [Jeanne?], a few selected websites.

Ruth Solomon is putting this list together.

b) the three case scenarios: Chris, Kay/Jeanne, Nancy

including a list of evidence-based references for each case

a bulleted sheet/decision tree on the problem in each case

c) a handout for docs on basic breastfeeding assessment. Linda is responsible.

d) depending on who funds the program, a list of sponsors.

Sponsorship. Physicians do not pay any fee to participate and get CMEs. The cost is about $5000.

Barbara Shocker has contacted Medela for sponsorship. Chris has asked PRO-LC whether they would like to be a co-sponsor. It was suggested that other state ILCA chapters, local coalitions, the state LLL areas, and the PA-BC itself might want to be co-sponsors.

Karen F, who is a Hollister distributor, will ask her rep about sponsorship.

Public Policy committee
Chris had no committee activity to report. However, she did attend a meeting in Washington in December to learn about the issue of "family leave income." Under a rule change at the US Dept of Labor which President Clinton requested in June 2000, states with surplus Unemployment Insurance (UI) funds can use those funds to provide income to workers who take family leave. About 20 states have explored this possibility in the last three years, but no state yet has set up such a system. Because she works in New Jersey, Chris has the opportunity to participate in a NJ campaign to pass a family leave income law. She will see what lessons we can learn for PA.

To learn more, visit www.nationalpartnership.org

Research committee
There was no report. Karen Foard raised a question. She has read an article in the ABM Newsletter (6:4) about breastfeeding in the development of the central nervous system. She asks, "What other researchers can we identify who could write a similar article about the impact of bf on other body systems?"

Public Relations committee
Martha reported that the newsletter is being delayed because she needs input from members. Specifically

any books authored or co-authored by a coalition member. Send Martha information including title, publisher, cost, how to obtain.
Karen F will do an article on ways to plan for World Bf Week.
Martha also raised the issue of items that appear in the media that need responses---either praise or rebuttal. Jeanne suggested that we have some sample paragraphs already written that could then be particularized and pasted together to suit the situation. We reached no decision to take action, however.

Mary Ann asked whether the Coalition had made a decision about Chris's proposal to set up a process for endorsing positions taken by other entities. There is no mention in the minutes that we approved the proposal. Chris will send it around to members again, and Martha will place the topic on the agenda for April.

This ended the business of the meeting.

Respectfully, submitted,
Chris Mulford, Secretary

Next Meeting:
April 25, Wed 10am - 2pm
The South Ridge Motor Inn, 1830 S. Atherton Street, State College ( 814) 238-0571

The following news was shared:
Mary Ann is revising a chapter on breastfeeding (from the maternal perspective) for a Life Cycle Nutrition text book.

Jeanne's Laurel Highlands Coalition is working on their billboard project. They plan to run four billboards. They also have a researcher lined up to do an evaluation. This person will survey people in OB offices and ask whether they saw the billboard.

The current JAMA has an article on reduced infections when babies breastfeed, with an editorial by Ruth Lawrence. Jeanne's local paper ran an article about this, and Jeanne will write a quick letter to the editor to follow up.

Linda reported that the new provisional section on breastfeeding at AAP is one of the largest sections AAP has ever had. There has been much turmoil about making a recommendation on Vitamin D supplementation of breastfeeding babies. A statement is expected soon.

You can read the article that prompted the new recommendation at

http://www.medscape.com/medscape/cno/2000/AAP/Story.cfm?story_id=1774

If you are not already a Medscape user, you will need to register first. Just follow the directions