Local Breastfeeding Supporter Meetings
MIBFN and Local Breastfeeding Supporter Meetings are intended as a space for MIBFN, local breastfeeding supporters, and statewide partners to share, listen, and learn alongside each other as a way of informing each of our statewide and local breastfeeding support strategies. We hold one another accountable for ensuring that this, and all breastfeeding spaces, are safe for the families and breastfeeding supporters who are most marginalized by our current systems.
Who Participates
MIBFN collaborates with organizations and individuals to bring about actionable, system-level changes that are centered on the diverse experiences of Michigan families with young children. Meetings are open to breastfeeding supporters in Michigan – we are continuously working to widen our circle, with a focus on centering marginalized families. To view a list of the organizations we are currently inviting and who are participating in these meetings, click here. We are so honored to serve in solidarity with breastfeeding supporters. If you would like to join our next meeting of breastfeeding supporters, please email hello@mibreastfeeding.org for more information.
Group Norms
These group norms were adapted from Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown:
- This is a BRAVE space
- Listen from the inside out, or listen from the bottom up (a feeling in your gut matters)
- Microaggressions, white optics, and co-opting of ideas will be called out immediately by white facilitators during the call.
- We address issues – especially white violence – as it happens in the meeting and discuss it on the next call.
- Intellectual property that is shared on calls is shared for the purpose of informing folks of what is happening throughout Michigan. If you wish to implement something similar in your own community, it is expected you will consult with the person who shared their idea on the call.
- W.A.I.T.–Why Am I Talking?
- Make Space, Take Space
- Confidentiality–take the lessons, leave the details
- Be open to learning
- Be open to someone else speaking your truth
- Building, not selling–when you speak, converse, don’t pitch
- Yes/and, both/and
- Value the process as much as, if not more than, you value the outcomes
- Assume best intent, attend to impact
- Self care and community care–pay attention to your bladder, pay attention to your neighbors
Meeting Recaps
We are so honored to share space with the incredible breastfeeding supporters who join these calls. Please click below to view printable summary reports and the themes that guide our actions in response to the meetings. If you were a participant in these meetings and have lost your link to the full meeting notes, please email hello@mibreastfeeding.org for more information.
- Resetting Expectations and Accountabilities for Local Breastfeeding Supporter Meetings in February 2022
- Birth and Breastfeeding Supporters Are Pushing Ahead for Systemic Change in January 2022
- December 2021 Local Breastfeeding Supporter Meeting Recap in December 2021
- The Work Continues As We Strive Towards Breastfeeding Justice in October 2021
- Providing Lactation Care in the Public Health, Health Care, and Hospital Systems in September 2021
- 2021 August Breastfeeding Awareness Month Recap in August 2021
- Centering Families in Birth and Breastfeeding Systems in July 2021
- Creating New Ways to Build Community in June 2021
- Investing in Local Breastfeeding Supporters in May 2021
- Showing Up to Support Families During COVID-19 in March 2021
- Dismantling Systemic Racism for Effective Breastfeeding Support in February 2021
- Mental Health and Breastfeeding in January 2021
- COVID-19 Birth and Breastfeeding Justice and Serving Incarcerated Families in December 2020
- COVID-19 Community Updates in November 2020
- Community Building in October 2020
- Education in September 2020
- Solidarity in Breastfeeding Advocacy and Birth Justice in August 2020
- Breastfeeding Advocacy in July 2020
- August 2020 Breastfeeding Awareness in May and June 2020
- Breastfeeding and COVID-19 in April and May 2020
Reports
FY 2021 Local Breastfeeding Supporter Meeting Report
It is with immense gratitude that we share the FY 2021 Report on the MIBFN & Local Breastfeeding Supporters fund. We are deeply grateful to the Local Breastfeeding Supporters for sharing this space with us and also to Michigan WIC for continued financial support. We look forward to working together throughout the coming year.
Accountability
The Local Breastfeeding Supporter Meetings are a brave space for the MIBFN team and those who participate. We honor the work being done in these monthly calls and in the time in between. We are so grateful for everything shared and feel very accountable for both transparency and action in support of the needs identified within the space. To that end, here are some of the areas we are still developing and look forward to continued growth:
Meeting facilitation: Currently, MIBFN staff facilitate the meetings with input from local breastfeeding supporters; in 2021, we intend to grow this to include meeting facilitation by local breastfeeding supporters.
Agenda setting: Always begins with introductions and transparency about note-taking; Agendas are sent (via google docs) to participants in advance of the meetings) Currently, MIBFN staff set the agenda items with input from local breastfeeding supporters; in 2021, we intend to grow this to include agenda-setting by local breastfeeding supporters.
Group records & accountability for action/outcomes:
- Meeting notes – format: google doc, de-identified and distributed to everyone on the participants list within 1 week of the meeting; purpose: detailed record of what was discussed to support creation of the Meeting Recap
- Meeting recap – format: PDF, approved by local breastfeeding supporters prior to wider distribution; purpose: to support MIBFN, Michigan WIC, and local breastfeeding support efforts to advocate and changes systems in solidarity with breastfeeding families
- Webpages – mibreastfeeding.org/local-meetings, mibreastfeeding.org/covid-19
- Additional communications – as necessary, dependent on the topic and requests of local breastfeeding supporters