1. careers
2. nursing

TWO GIFTS IN ONE: OUR TRIBUTE CARD
It’s a gorgeous image photographed by LaurieL Photography and
printed on high-quality cardstock. Inside are the words:
To the world you may be one person, to one person you may be the
world...
In celebration of family health and
closeness, a generous donation has
been made in your name to the
Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon
by __________________________.
For each $10 donation to NMC,
you will receive one card to mail to
family, friends or co-workers. Perfect
in lieu of a small gift exchange, or
as a tribute to loved ones, this is
a gift, not just a card, which also
helps NMC serve low-income women
in the community. There are two images and messages available this year: one with
a holiday theme, and one that’s
great for the holidays, Mother’s day,
birth announcements or any time
you would like to make a meaningful statement and better the world
at the same time. To view the cards and place an
order in time for the holidays, go
to: www.nursingmotherscounsel.org
BY MAIL
Send your tax-exempt donation, along with
your name, address, phone number, and
e-mail address, to:
Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon
c/o Treasurer
818 S.W. Third Ave., No. 372
Portland, OR 97204
ON THE WEB
1. Visit www.nursingmotherscounsel.org
2. Click any category on the home page:
Support, Promote or Protect.
3. Then click “Make a donation” and give
electronically via PayPal.
“This is a substantial card. The
LaurieL Photography, the quality of
the print and the beautiful message
inside made this something I was
truly pleased to send as my holiday
card. So many people contacted me
to say how touched they were by the
tribute.” WHILE YOU SHOP
—Wendy Mitchell, MA CPC
3. Then click “Shop Amazon.” Every purchase
you make will benefit NMC at no extra cost!
When you access Amazon.com using the link
on the NMC Web site, we receive a percentage
of the Amazon sale.
1. www.nursingmotherscounsel.org
2. Click any category on the home page:
Support, Promote or Protect.
Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon
818 SW 3rd Ave.
Suite 372
Portland, OR 97204
Last year’s launch of Nursing
Mothers Counsel’s annual Tribute
Card Fund-raiser touched the lives
of many, while sharing the mission
and ensuring the success of Nursing
Mothers Counsel. HOW TO GIVE TO NMC
NONPROFIT ORG
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PORTLAND OR
PERMIT 1504
ISSUE #3
November 2007
www.nursingmotherscounsel.org
NURSING MOTHERS
COUNSEL OF OREGON
PSMYTHE TO DIRECT STATE BREASTFEEDING COALITION
This fall marks a great round
of transition for NMC.
Breastfeeding Coalition of
Oregon steering committee
NMC Executive Director Amelia
Psmythe began work Oct. 9 as the Director of the Breastfeeding Coalition of
Oregon. This fall, when the coalition’s
steering committee member Community
Health Partnership emerged as a viable
fiscal agent for the burgeoning coalition, they were eager to hire Amelia,
who has spent the last three years
building this statewide organization.
As a result, Amelia, who has overseen
a dramatic period of growth for NMC
since taking the lead in 2003, expects
to begin scaling back her executive
director duties as the NMC board considers how best to structure the group’s
changing leadership.
NMC owes a huge debt of gratitude
to Amelia. When she joined the counsel
eight years ago, NMC gained a passionate and visionary leader. Her work
helped expand the NMC mission to
the three-pillared “Support, Promote
and Protect” model for which it is
known today. From budgeting, committee oversight and fund-raisers to
support for lobbying efforts and work
with media, Amelia has strived to have
For free breastfeeding
help or for more
information visit
www.nursingmotherscounsel.org
in oregon call
503-282-3338
in sw washington call
360-750-0656
Garrett wins state
volunteer award|2
Western Oregon co-chair
Katherine Abdun-Nur, RN, IBCLC, Lactation
Services, Three Rivers Community Hospitals,
Grants Pass
Eastern Oregon Co-chair
Sherri Tobin, MS, RD, CLE, Deschutes
County WIC and Coordinator of the Central Oregon Breastfeeding Coalition
MaryLou Hennrich, Executive Director,
Community Health Partnership
Sheri McLoughlin, Development Chair,
Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon
Amelia Psmythe
both the health benefits and the sweetness of breastfeeding become wellknown in our community.
She orchestrated the launch of
several new programs, including localizing the U.S. Department of Health &
Human Services National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign, forming the
Portland Area Breastfeeding Coalition,
and leading the research, training and
networking processes needed to build
the Breastfeeding Coalition of Oregon
into a truly statewide organization.
The momentum here in Oregon is
inspiring and encouraging. NMC is
particularly thrilled that Amelia has
the opportunity to continue growing
the coalition as BCO Director under the
wing of Community Health Partnership:
Oregon’s Public Health Institute. In
addition to providing funding, office space and administrative support
to the coalition, Community Health
Partnership’s support will allow Amelia
to easily collaborate with other community coalitions working in their office to
Annual luncheon|3
Hospitals drop
formula “bags”|4
Amelia Psmythe, Program
Coordinator, Breastfeeding
Coalition of Oregon
reduce the risk of childhood obesity. It
is a great opportunity to raise the visibility of breastfeeding as an imperative
public health issue.
Meanwhile, the NMC Board is assuming some of the executive director responsibilities as Amelia ramps
up in her new job. The Board also is
exploring the possibility of creating a
Volunteer Coordinator position to assist
with operations in the short term, while
keeping the new Development Chair,
Sheri McLoughlin, busy with grant applications to fund NMC staff.
NMC has been fortunate to have
Amelia at the helm for these many
years and cannot thank her enough
for her selfless service. We know that
the state coalition and the families
it serves will benefit from Amelia’s
dynamic leadership.
– Sheri McLoughlin, NMC board member
Grants to help lowincome moms|5
A perfect gift: NMC
tribute cards|6
NMC LOBBYIST WINS GOVERNOR’S VOLUNTEER AWARD
Diane Garrett was the busy mother of
a 2½-year-old when she first set foot in
Oregon’s Capitol building.
With no lobbying experience, Garrett
had just signed up to be Nursing Mothers Counsel’s volunteer lobbyist.
Nearly three years later, Garrett won
the Oregon Governor’s Volunteer Award
for outstanding adult for her groundbreaking lobbying efforts on behalf of
breastfeeding mothers. It’s the top volunteer award in the state, and winners
are chosen by Oregon Volunteers, State
Commission for Voluntary Action and
Service, a statewide panel appointed by
the governor.
Garrett’s efforts paid off, first with
the 2005 passage of Senate Bill 618:
Workplace Accommodation for Breastfeeding Mothers; and then with this
year’s House Bill 2372: Return to Work
and Breastfeeding. The most recent
new law, which takes effect in January, requires large employers to provide
women a guaranteed time and place to
express breast milk for their babies.
When Garrett signed on as lobbyist in
2004, her charge was to push for legislation ensuring that working mothers
could express breast milk on the job.
“She brought together an impressive and long list of stakeholders and
partners from government, health care,
organized labor and private industry to
support working moms in their efforts
to continue breastfeeding their babies,”
the state commission said in announcing the winners.
Garrett, of Portland, became im-
—Sarah Hunsberger, NMC
About 90 groups and individuals were
nominated in seven categories.
“This has been an empowering lesson for me
in how the personal can be applied politically,” said Diane Garrett upon accepting her
Governor’s Volunteer Award in Salem.
mersed in a highly political fight that
would stretch over two legislative sessions and bring countless return trips
to Salem – many of them while she was
pregnant with her second child.
Q&A
legislative update
A CONVERSATION WITH DIANE GARRETT BREASTFEEDING LAW
Q:
A:
What does the Governor’s Volunteer Award mean to you?
When I joined NMC, I did not envision that providing mom-to-mom
support would lead to advocacy work.
So this has been an empowering lesson
for me in how the personal can
be applied politically. Just as I discovered how helping one person can lead
to helping many, I hope other people
will in turn be inspired to do what they
can to embrace breastfeeding as a
normal, accepted and beautiful part
of life in Oregon.
Q:
A:
What was your hardest day at
the Capitol?
Probably the hardest day was in
2005, when I struck a deal to strip
that year’s bill of all mandate language.
I had rushed down to Salem in a horrible rainstorm, 2 1/2-year-old in tow.
After making sure I would have all the
committee votes to pass what was left
of the bill, I needed to update then-minority leader Rep. Jeff Merkley (my representative). One of his staffers escorted
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me to the House Chamber lobby. I felt
bedraggled and discouraged. To add to
my misery, my daughter tripped headfirst
over one of the velvet line ropes, and
echoes of her distress were bouncing
off the marble when Rep. Merkley came
out to meet me. He was very kind, and
I immediately felt he understood my experience and how degrading it had been.
He simply said, “You did a good job.”
The only reason I didn’t cry was that the
lobbyist who was responsible for gutting
the bill was standing there watching.
Q:
A:
What personal sacrifices did
you make to complete your
lobbying work?
Beyond the obvious commitment
to work an unspecified number
of hours without pay, and only with
limited expense reimbursement, there
was the unexpected result of giving
up my personal privacy to become the
“face” for the issue. And of course, I
lost sleep, which seems to fit right in
with being a mother!
In Mother Words
The state Bureau of Labor and Industries is crafting administrative rules to
carry out the new Return to Work and
Breastfeeding Bill.
The 2007 Legislature’s nearly unanimous passage of the bill was largely
due to the lobbying efforts of Nursing
Mothers Counsel volunteer lobbyist
Diane Garrett.
Starting in January, the law will
require that employers of 25 or more
people allow unpaid time and a private
location for an employee to express
breast milk for her child.
With the help of an advisory committee, the bureau is analyzing a number
of questions about how the law will
be carried out. For instance, how close
does the designated “pumping” room
need to be to the mother’s work area?
The bureau plans to issue a draft of
the proposed rules this fall and gather
feedback. For updates, visit www.
oregon.gov/BOLI/ and click on “New/
Proposed Rules.”
November 2007
NMC RECEIVES PGE, KAISER GRANTS
The money will
provide professional
in-home nursing help
to moms who couldn’t
otherwise afford it.
Kaiser Permanente Northwest
and the PGE Foundation each
have awarded Nursing Mothers Counsel $1,000 grants to
provide professional in-home
lactation consultation to lowincome mothers.
“We know that the best nutrition for babies is breastfeeding,”
said Jim Gersbach, a spokesman
for Kaiser. “We wanted to help as
many mothers be successful at that
as possible.”
NURSING MOTHERS COUNSEL
OF OREGON
Board of directors
Chanda Stone, co-president
Lisa Stefanowicz, co-president
Kelli Bottolfson-Brown, treasurer
Krista Foxwell, secretary
Sheri McLoughlin, member at-large
Executive Director
Amelia Psmythe
Project Administrator and
volunteer lobbyist
Diane Garrett
NMC Executive Director Amelia Psmythe (left) accepts
a symbolic $1,000 check from Kaiser Permanente
during an August ceremony at Kaiser Sunnyside
Medical Center.
“The program… reaches women who
might not otherwise have access to
this kind of support, and helps them be
successful at nursing their infants. Because the NCMO charges no administrative fee, we knew our entire donation
would go to helping as many deserving
women as possible in our community
get this help.”
For several years, Nursing Mothers
Counsel has contracted with Beyond
Birth Home Lactation Services in Portland to provide professional home or
office visits to low-income moms.
Among those who qualify are women
on the Oregon Health Plan, women
enrolled in the Special Supplemental
Nutrition for Women, Infants and Children program, and those who have no
health insurance.
Beyond Birth’s certified lactation consultants charge a generously
reduced rate for the visits – about 60
percent of their normal fee – and Nursing Mothers Counsel pays the bill, making the service available at no cost to
mothers. The program serves 40 to 50
families per year, said Zenana Rose, a
lactation consultant with Beyond Birth.
The competitive grants will help NMC
continue this service and also provide
more adequate funding for equipment
such as breast pumps and nursing bras,
as well as for interpretive services for
non-English-speaking women.
helped me with latching techniques as well as distinguishing
“Zenana
productive feedings with nutritive sucks. I had three appointments to
ensure (my daughter) was gaining weight. She also gave me emotional
support to help me through this challenging time.
I am so grateful to NMC for the financial assistance it has given. Without
that support I am unsure if I would have sought out a lactation professional. Money was an obstacle.
Thank you for your support! My baby and I are doing very well and she
has been gaining plenty of weight.
”
— Sarah, a mother who received help from lactation consultant Zenana Rose
through NMC’s in-home lactation program, September 2007
Newsletter
Sarah Hunsberger, editor
Harmony Spangler, designer
OUR MISSION
Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon is
a nonprofit group made up of volunteer
mothers whose goal is to support,
promote and protect breastfeeding.
Our programs include free telephone
help lines staffed by trained peer
counselors; free introductory breastfeeding classes; Medela breast-pump
sales and rentals; Free professional
lactation services to women with no
other access to care; and Legislative
lobbying including the successful passage of a key 2007 breastfeeding bill.
www.nursingmotherscounsel.org
In Oregon: 503-282-3338
In SW Washington: 360-750-0656
UPCOMING EVENTS
14
november
NMC business meeting
7-9 p.m. at Urban Grind
2214 N.E. Oregon St., Portland
1
december
6:30-9:30 p.m.
NMC annual volunteer
appreciation dinner Amelia Psmythe’s
house RSVP by Nov. 26 to Chanda
Stone, chandaeric@comcast.net
503-352-5552
Members only, please.
Printing of “In Mother Words” generously provided by our community partner, Providence Health & Services
November 2007
In Mother Words
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