Diane Beckman

Diane Beckman is a long time La Leche League Leader in Cary, NC. She has been volunteering and helping breastfeeding families for over 20 years.

Would you share a bit of your personal history as a nursing mother yourself?

I was born in Washington DC, went to college in Beloit,Wisconsin and graduate school in Chapel Hill. At the end of my course work, I became a mother. My daughter, Selena, was born in Chapel Hill in 1984 and my son, Max, was born in 1989. In 1994, I graduated with a doctorate in Comparative Literature.

In what capacities have you worked with nursing mothers? In what capacity do you work with them now?

I have been a La Leche League Leader since 1986 and have led monthly meetings in Cary and Raleigh since for more than 20 years. I have also worked for over 15 years training other mothers to become Leaders. For five years, I headed up the LLL International Book Evaluation Committee, helping with LLLI publications.

In your role as a La Leche League Leader, what are some of the concerns that you hear from mothers at different stages—e.g., newborns, premature/ill child, returning to work, starting solids, weaning, etc.?

I hear about all these concerns! I am very interested in helping mothers work through the normal course of motherhood, which is one of life's most challenging journeys. I like being there for a mother through each of her child's normal developmental stages, because there are questions and concerns at each stage and with each child. My main message is to help mothers understand what is normal: what are the baby's and mother's natural, normal biological needs and how they can be met.

I am very interested in the interface between culture and nature and the ways in which cultural practices impact mothers and babies. Two of the most important messages that La Leche League has for mothers are: mothering through breastfeeding and people before things. I help mothers become comfortable with breastfeeding so that they can enjoy being the tremendous fulfillment that this role brings us. In my professional life (as a professor at NC State) and my personal life, I believe that people are more important than material things. It was through La Leche League that I heard this idea formulated most concisely.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of the volunteer work you do with nursing mothers and babies?

Watching a woman blossom as she finds her own mothering style and gains confidence.

What are the greatest challenges facing the breastfeeding community today?

Our cultural expectation that it is normal for babies and mothers to be separated. Also, anything that causes a mother to doubt that she is the expert on her baby.

In your work, you’ve no doubt counseled hundreds of new mothers. What do you wish more women knew before they started breastfeeding?

New mothers need support from other women, especially women who have had successful breastfeeding experiences.