1st Annual Summit on Breastfeeding in June 2009 is 25th Anniversary of Surgeon General’s Workshop on Breastfeeding and Human Lactation
By Irene Rayman
Academy of Breastfeeding
Experts in maternal and infant health and health policy leaders from the Obama Administration in the United States of America will present timely information and recommendations for new policy initiatives to support a national breastfeeding agenda at the 1st Annual Summit on Breastfeeding, to take place June 11-12, in Washington, D.C. The Summit, "First Food: The Essential Role of Breastfeeding," is being presented by the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, and its official peer-reviewed journal, Breastfeeding Medicine, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. ( www.liebertpub.com/bfm) and supported by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The Summit marks the 25th anniversary of the Surgeon General's Workshop on Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, hosted in June 1984 for the first time by then Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, MD, and chaired by Ruth Lawrence, MD, currently Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics at the Unversity of Rochester School of Medicine, who will once again both have central roles in this gathering of eminent researchers, clinicians, and key policymakers.
Participants will focus on the development of health policy solutions for improving breastfeeding rates, removing barriers to breastfeeding, and eliminating health disparities by better supporting the health needs of underserved mothers and their vulnerable children. Breastfeeding represents a cost-effective, easily accessible, low-tech solution to reducing infant mortality rates-the U.S. ranks 29th in the world-decreasing morbidity, and improving both immediate and long-term health issues for mothers and their young children.
The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (www.bfmed.org) is a global organization of physicians dedicated to the promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding through education, research, and advocacy. It promotes the development and dissemination of clinical practice guidelines.
Breastfeeding Medicine is an authoritative, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published quarterly. The Journal publishes original scientific articles, reviews, and case studies on a broad spectrum of topics in lactation medicine. It presents evidence-based research advances and explores the immediate and long-term outcomes of breastfeeding, including the epidemiologic, physiologic, and psychological benefits of breastfeeding.
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., (www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Women's Health, Journal of Gynecologic Surgery, and Pediatric Asthma, Allergy and Immunology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at www.liebertpub.com
New Rochelle, NY, April 27, 2009
