The world has lost a remarkable woman: Betty Wagner
Spandikow, one of the founders of La Leche League International. In 1956, she
and six others founded a breastfeeding support organization that grew from one
town in Illinois
to now circle the globe.
In the mid-1950s, breastfeeding was very much out of vogue: only 20 percent of women were breastfeeding. However,
in Franklin Park, Illinois, a group of seven women gathered
together to share information about how to breastfeed successfully.
One of those women, Betty Wagner, was pregnant with her
fifth child. When the informal group organized, Betty was keen to join. (Just
think about that: mother of four, pregnant with her fifth, and eager to be part
of a group dedicated to a practice that society no longer supported. How many
of us would have the energy and fire to do the same under similar conditions?)
The women named their group “La Leche League,” taking the
word “leche” (milk) from a shrine to Nuestra Senora de la Leche y Buen Parto
(Our Lady of Happy Delivery and Plentiful Milk) that was dedicated in 1598 by
early Spanish settlers in America
From its humble beginnings in 1956, La Leche League International has grown to have groups in each
of the 50 states and in 64 countries around the world. Its most well-known
publication, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, has over 2 million copies in
print and has been translated into eight languages and Braille.
In the workplace, Betty’s ideas were decades ahead of the rest of the world.
She…
…introduced flexible work hours.
…helped create a family-friendly workplace.
…set LLLI office hours so that staff members could be home with their
children after school.
…introduced the concepts of work teams and home offices.
If you weren’t alive in the 1960s, I can tell you that it was exceptionally
rare to find women working outside the home. Finding a woman who raised seven
children while helping create a workplace founded on these radical ideas, all
in support of breastfeeding, is truly a one in a million discovery. Betty also
served on the Board of Directors and served as Treasurer, Business Manager, and
as Executive Director, the last of which for 19 years, until her retirement.
A celebration of Betty’s life is being planned. For more information or to
make a donation in her name, visit LLLI’s home page, here.
Laurel Haring is a writer and lives with her family in Wilmington, Delaware (her blog is here ). Laurel remembers that when her mother began working part time during the 1970s, it created something of a stir; she is in awe of all that Betty accomplished in her life.
Photo of Betty Wagner Spandikow from La Leche League International Web site.
I was so sorry to hear of Betty's passing. Because of women like her and the La Leche League, I never once felt embarrassed or shy about nursing my baby in public and continuing to nurse him for 16 months. She brought women's health and the needs of infants into the light at a time when it was not the norm to do so, and as moms, nursing or not, we are all indebted to her.
Once again a true pioneer in women's and infant health has passed. I owe much of my knowledge about breastfeeding and it's benefits to LLLI, I also owe my security to nurse in public and to stand up for my rights as a breastfeeding mom to La Leche League. Truly a loss for us all.
Mom Topics 
The world has lost a remarkable woman: Betty Wagner
Spandikow, one of the founders of La Leche League International. In 1956, she
and six others founded a breastfeeding support organization that grew from one
town in 
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