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The BFAR Email Lists
The
BFAR email list is a forum for support and exchange of information among
women who have had reduction mammoplasty surgery (breast reductions) and
who are contemplating or currently breastfeeding. Topics for discussion
pertain to all aspects of breastfeeding in relation to the unique challenges
of doing so after breast reduction surgery. It is a very supportive group;
the members have found a wonderful kinship in talking to other women who
have had such similar experiences. As the field of BFAR is just developing,
the members are very open to new information and welcome the opportunity
to provide support to others who are experiencing any aspect of BFAR.
Unfortunately, the main BFAR list is not a forum for discussion of topics
pertaining to general information about breast reductions, so only those
women who have already had the surgery are eligible to subscribe to it.
Subscription requests require approval by the list moderator.
For
those who would like general information about breast reductions, BFAR,
or who are health professionals (LLLL's, LC's, midwives, etc.) working
with BFAR mothers, there is a very active email list populated by BFAR
mothers, friends and family of BFAR mothers, and health care professionals
called "BFARinfo." Anyone interested in BFAR is welcome to subscribe
to this list.
To Unsubscribe
If you are ready to unsubscribe
from any of our lists click here.
How
the First BFAR Email List was Born
Five
BFAR mothers, Diana, Carol Maranta, Lara Cowan-Vesper, Colleen Dunhill
Jones, and Christine Gilmore Eubanks, met in January 1996 through various
breastfeeding and parenting email lists and bulletin boards on the Internet.
It was wonderful to finally have others to talk with about BFAR who had
been through the same things; women who truly understood the emotions
and difficulties involved in breastfeeding after reduction surgery. This
small group of five women originally corresponded through email, which
they found to be cumbersome. After a few weeks, Carol created an automated
email list and the group decided to call it BFAR, for BreastFeeding
After Reduction. BFAR was immediately made available to
all women who had undergone breast reduction surgery and who were currently
breastfeeding, soon to be breastfeeding, or contemplating breastfeeding
future children.
The
main BFAR email list has now been running for over five years and has a
constant subscriber base of over 300 women who contribute to the ever-developing
field of BFAR knowledge. Through the trials of many women, we have learned
what works and what doesn't. We now have a great deal of information to
share with subscribers about galactagogues, supplemental nursing systems,
pumps, pumping techniques, and approaches to supplementation, as well as
empathy about the unique emotional aspects of BFAR. Although statistics
are not available, we do know that a vast majority of subscribers have said
that it was primarily the information and support provided by the BFAR organization
that made breastfeeding successful for them. Many women believe that had
it not been for the BFAR organization, they would have given up and exclusively
formula-fed.
The
BFAR organization is a community of warmly supportive women who genuinely
care about each and every mother and baby. We've shared laughter and tears.
We are very careful not to be judgmental about any choices a BFAR mother
may make as we all know that we each make the very best choices we can with
the options available to us.
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