Amidst the day-to-day running of our network there was a sudden flurry of activity and excitement as Victoria Gensheimer, the admin for the state of Kentucky, proposed the idea of launching a world-wide milksharing week event. At that time HM4HB spanned more than 40 countries and had over 15,000 supporters around the world. The success of the network made it obvious that families wanted access to human milk if they were unable to provide breastmilk for their babies. Victoria's proposal of launching World Milksharing Week, to both celebrate milksharing and raise awareness about human donor milk, was nothing short of the perfect "next project".
HM4HB volunteers remained busy, fostering community among the members of their pages, but the 'World Milksharing Week' seed had been planted and it continued to be brought up during discussions centred around our vision for the network. Finally, in May 2011, a group of volunteers came together to bring this wonderful idea to fruition.
On July 3, 2011, Human Milk 4 Human Babies Global Network excitedly announced the launch of the first ever World Milksharing Week, to be held from September 24-30, 2011, all around the planet. World Milksharing Week will be held annually during the last week of September, to celebrate milksharing and to promote human milk as the biologically normal nourishment for babies and children.
This year's WMW committee is formed by the following volunteers, in alphabetical order:
Dani Arnold-McKenny is a mom to 5 very active and energetic kids, a Breastfeeding and Natural Childbirth Advocate, and political activist. She is an administrator for Human Milk for Human Babies, has a presence on several other online communities, and writes the Informed Parenting blog: encouraging parents to research and learn, to open their minds and listen to their instincts, and take control of their families health and well being. When not busy with all of the above, she can be found either cooking & baking, drawing & sewing. Occasionally she sleeps. Blog: http://iinformedparenting.blogspot.com/
Lynsey Bartram is Mum to 3 busy boys and lives in a small village in Suffolk, UK. She is an activist in many areas including being a keen advocate for Breastfeeding, Natural Childbirth and Informed Choice and is an administrator for Human Milk for Human Babies. In her free time (ha ha) she enjoys growing food and travelling. In the future she hopes to reach out to her local community in a more tangible way by returning to University to study Midwifery.
Jodine Chase lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is mother, stepmother, and spouse to the father of 11 offspring, ranging in age from 6 to 36. ("I only gave birth to five!" she's been known to declare.) She works in public relations with an emphasis on the health care and energy fields, providing a boutique issues management service to senior managers and CEOs. She uses her powers for good providing support as a volunteer to breastfeeding causes both locally and globally. She also is active in her community working to support the sustainability of mature neighbourhoods in her city.
Ilse Padilla Fisher is a mother of two. Since the birth of her children, Ilse has worked tirelessly to let other parents know the importance of a natural birth to increase the chances of a non-eventful breastfeeding relationship. Ilse was an administrator for HM4HB, opening virtual communities to renormalize breast milk and raise awareness and support for informed milksharing. This fall, she will be starting Nursing school and begin breastfeeding and baby-wearing workshops in middle Georgia, where she lives with her husband and kids.
Dinnae Galloway is a time-constrained (aren't we all?) mum to 3 gorgeous boys who keep her very busy, living in Surrey, BC. She is a one-time milk donor (so far!) and an admin for HM4HB - British Columbia. She's passionate about intactivism, natural birth, breastfeeding, and informing and encouraging parents about the options available to them regarding using donor milk. Blog: http://dinnae.blogspot.com/
Victoria Gensheimer is a mother of three. She breastfed all three of her children, with her youngest breastfeeding up to thirty-eight months. She is a certified birth doula and is currently finishing up her certifications as a lactation counselor and post-partum doula through CBI. She will become a first-time grandmother this October. Her goal is to inform and educate mothers and fathers about the benefits of natural childbirth and breastfeeding. She is honored to be the HM4HB Kentucky admin. The idea to celebrate World Milksharing Week originated with her. She was thrilled to bring it to the global HM4HB admin group.
Kelly Harper is a full-time mum of 3 kids: 11, 4 and nearly 2, living in Adelaide, South Australia. She breastfed the first 2 for a couple months, but is still feeding #3! Her youngest was wetnursed by 5 of her friends for a day while she had a course to attend, as she is like so many in that she can't express milk. She is involved in the homebirth and milk sharing circles on Facebook, and oh... slightly addicted to modern cloth nappies (who doesn't love a fluffy bum?). In between mummy duties, she looks after the admin side of her husband's busy tiling business, AND is studying accounting FULL TIME! And like Dani, sometimes, she sleeps.
Bekki Hill is a busy mom of two little ones. She became a part of the milksharing community back in 2009 when breast hypoplasia left her unable to produce enough milk to sustain her babies. Though tragic, this experience has opened the door to a whole new world. In December 2010, she partnered with her son's primary milk donor, Laura Moore, to create a blog and Facebook group to support and instruct families in the technical issues of modern milksharing: freezing, thawing, shipping, and everything in between. She is currently exploring an experimental therapy in hopes of correcting her low supply issues permanently, maybe even to become a donor, herself, one day. Blog: http://www.modernmilksharing.com
Emma Kwasnica is a mum of three who generously gives her time to promote breastfeeding and better birth causes. Informed Choice: Birth and Beyond, her Facebook discussion group, encourages maternal instinct and autonomy and inspires ...women to take charge of their birth and breastfeeding experiences. She has been active in the fight against Facebook's continued policy of deleting photos of women breastfeeding their children. She is the founder of the global Facebook-based milksharing network Human Milk 4 Human Babies. Emma is enthusiastic in her support for many other causes, using her broad network of contacts to raise the profiles of other bloggers and activists who aim to help mothers and babies and families. Her group can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/180262788684743/
Emma Kwasnica is a mum of three who generously gives her time to promote breastfeeding and better birth causes. Informed Choice: Birth and Beyond, her Facebook discussion group, encourages maternal instinct and autonomy and inspires ...women to take charge of their birth and breastfeeding experiences. She has been active in the fight against Facebook's continued policy of deleting photos of women breastfeeding their children. She is the founder of the global Facebook-based milksharing network Human Milk 4 Human Babies. Emma is enthusiastic in her support for many other causes, using her broad network of contacts to raise the profiles of other bloggers and activists who aim to help mothers and babies and families. Her group can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/180262788684743/
Molly May feels very fortunate to have been taught to breastfeed by her own mother who said, "If the monkeys can do it, I could do it and you can do it too." And that was that. To her, informed sharing of human milk for baby humans makes sense. She shared milk once and is thrilled to stockpile the milk in order to share some more soon. She is mother to three little boys and lives in Pittsburgh, PA. She is also a musician and teacher and works to spread the good word that breastfeeding and breastmilk are normal. Blog: http://logicalmommy.blogspot.com
Lourdes Santaballa tandem nurses her 3 1/2 and 5 year olds. A lifelong activist, she is a La Leche League leader, birth and postpartum doula, and a childbirth education student. Her late sister, Elena, taught her about the importance of milk sharing and that milk consumption is a human right for every child. A single mother on public assistance, she is currently also teaching vegan and gluten free cooking classes. She is a co-administrator of LaSo Puerto Rico.
Marivette Torres has been married for 22 years and has eight children (seven girls and one boy). She breastfed all her children, and is currently breastfeeding her 3.5 year old. She is a certified birth doula. She also provides breastfeeding counseling and support and teaches private Childbirth Education Classes. She desires to one day have a CBE class that empowers fathers-to-be. Her goal is to educate mothers and fathers on Informed Choice. She is a breastfeeding and natural birth advocate. She is honored to have the privilege of being an administrator of HM4HB California.
Jennifer Vaughn Trias lives in west central Illinois and is a homeschooling mom of two. Someday she wants to be a doula and/or childbirth educator, but for now is content to volunteer for Human Milk 4 Human Babies and World Milksharing Week.