La Leche League International: Mothers Supporting Breastfeeding

La Leche League International (LLLI) (la leche, Spanish for "the milk") is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that promotes breastfeeding throughout the world.  Founded in 1956 in Franklin Park, Illinois, by seven mothers (including Mary Ann Cahill, Edwina Froehlich, Mary Ann Kerwin, Viola Lennon, and Betty Wagner) who had breastfed their own children and were motivated to help mothers who had difficulties with breastfeeding, La Leche League is now a presence in sixty-eight countries, dedicated to providing education, information, support, and encouragement to women who want to breastfeed.  All women, especially pregnant and nursing mothers, are welcome to attend their meetings.  The name, La Leche League, was inspired by a shrine in St. Augustine, Florida, dedicated to “Nuestra Señora de la Leche y Buen Parto,” meaning “Our Lady of Happy Delivery and Plentiful Milk.”  Read more . . .

Witch Hunts in America: America's Time of Darkness

As most everyone knows today, during the three centuries of witch hunts in Salem and in many other parts of the American colonies, hundreds of innocent men, women, and even children, were put to death.  According to official documents available to the public, once the accusation of "witch" was made, a process began during which the accused was confined and tortured, and it was only a matter of time before they were ultimately strangled, drown, or burned to death.  Once branded a "witch," tests were administered to prove guilt and allow the accused the opportunity to confess.  Among these tests were swimming, strappado, thumbscrews, the boot, and the Black Virgin.  These methods represent by far the more humane tactics used to extract confession, the more severe involving the tearing off of women's breasts, penetration of women's anal cavities, and spreading of the vagina using metal torture devices designed especially for this purpose.  Read more . . .

The Art and Practice of Midwifery

The art and practice of midwifery, the attending of women in childbirth, is known to have been practiced in all ancient and early societies, and is one of the oldest formal professions.  While most cultures of the world have or continue to utilize women as birthing assistants, the term midwife is predominantly a designation applied to women of Europe and the United States, where this art has evolved into a licensed practice.  Almost exclusively of the female realm, midwifery is clearly acknowledged in the earliest books of the Old Testament, and was recognized as an important role within ancient Greek and Roman society.  During the middle ages, however, the midwife’s function began to disappear when it became directly affected by rising superstition associated with an appalling rate of infant mortality and a harsh stigma attached to mothers who could not deliver their babies unaided.  Read more . . .