On arrival you get a warm welcome from your Leader and/or some of the more regular mothers at the meeting. (There will be a safe space for you to leave your pushchair outside the meeting room. Both venues have toilets and baby changing facilities available for you.)
You will be offered a seat and refreshments.
You will be asked to fill in a short sign in sheet, and as part of this, provide some essential information about you and your baby. This will help us keep a record of attendees for future reference (should we need to get in touch with you), and provide valuable evidence as to how we, La Leche League Barnet, make a difference to breastfeeding mothers in our area.
We will have some baby toys available, as well as baby bouncers/mats/blankets to put your baby down, should you wish to. We try and provide some interesting toys for toddlers. However as their interest levels and attention span can vary significantly at this age, we would like to invite you to bring your own entertainment for them (and possibly for others to share), your circumstances permitting.
STRUCTURE AND TIMING OF THE MEETING:
We spend the first part of the meeting (roughly half an hour) waiting for everyone to arrive, chat, socialise.
This is also an opportunity for mothers to have one to one time with the Leader, should this be needed or desired.
We like to come together as a group, in a circle, for the middle part of the meeting. This is an opportunity for what La Leche League does best: some mother-to-mother support. We may share breastfeeding and parenting related issues, off-load concerns and frustrations, offer ideas, tips and experiences. We discuss problems and celebrate successes. It's an opportunity for the Leader to share information, La Leche League literature, or flag up any up-to-date on-line resources that might be helpful for members of the group.
We spend the last part of the meeting (again, roughly half an hour) breaking into smaller groups/pairs to socialise, continue the conversation, exchange contact details. Again, it's an opportunity to have one to one time with the Leader, who may be able to observe you feed your baby, or discuss any concerns you may have in confidence.
First time attendees will leave with a 'goody bag', containing precious LLL information sheets etc. Everyone will, hopefully, leave filled with warmth and some valuable information, and uplifted and supported by fellow breast feeders.