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5/14/2020

Hello and Happy May!

I hope all of you are in good health and enjoying the warm weather. Times are crazy, if the universe has decided that I am now supposed to be a home-school teacher! Consequently, I find myself more grateful for small blessings – lately, I am particularly grateful for the beautiful weather and the ability to get my boys outdoors!

This has been a challenging past couple of months for everyone, I’m sure, and as we continue through our daily lives in a whole new way, I’ve found the need to adjust expectations, be particularly patient with myself and others, and find flexibility with a multitude of changes.

Along those lines, we have a few upcoming announcements for the Task Force.

First, I’d like to welcome our new Board Members to the Task Force! We are very excited to have a new group of people, with fresh ideas and excitement, join our Board. We will be hosting a virtual Board and Membership meeting on June 12th, and hope that you will all join us. I’ve asked our new Board members to introduce themselves to the general membership to continue to increase interaction between the Board and our members. During this combined Board/Membership meeting, we will be discussing two important foundational documents, our Strategic Plan and our Action Plan, for the upcoming year. To assist in this discussion, Monica has sent out a very brief survey to our entire membership to get some general feedback about things that our members like or don’t like, or items they would like to see addressed over this upcoming year. I encourage all our members to take this very short survey as it will help guide our discussion and help prioritize our action items.

Second, the Task Force has been making a concerted effort to keep our website up to date with pertinent information about the Coronavirus. Please utilize our website to find material that may be helpful in answering questions about breastfeeding and maternal-child care during this pandemic (see below). We are hoping this information will prove helpful for both private practice and hospital-related issues. If you have a question that remains unanswered, or if you have an additional resource that you think would be helpful, please send the information to myself or Monica so that we can have our Medical Advisory Committee look it over and post it as appropriate.

Third, I’d like to reassure all our members that our non-profit organization remains in stable financial standing. Despite the state shut-down, we were able to host an excellent virtual Annual Conference and we have been recruited to lead efforts to assist and train other coalitions to do so as well. Our organization continues to have an excellent relationship with our funders and with our partner and community organizations and we do not anticipate the need for any major financial changes in the upcoming near future. While our clinical projects and expectations may need to be adjusted due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, our work remains important and vital to the health of our communities and we expect to continue this work throughout the state.

My best wishes go out to the members of our Task Force who I know are often both on the frontlines and also working behind the scenes to make breastfeeding successful across our state. A very special thank you to all of you who are working with our Native communities that have been the hardest hit by this virus.

If you need a laugh, feel free to check out our Facebook page to see my most recent contribution to “the cause” – and don’t hold it against me!

Belatedly, May the Fourth and health and happiness be with you all!

Sincerely,

Sophie

NMBTF Board Chair