The Editor's Swan Song

B reastfeeding Medicine is completing its ninth year. It was just 10 years ago that a small band of breastfeeding friends journeyed to New Rochelle, NY, to meet with Mary Ann Liebert, Karla Shepard Rubinger, and Vicki Cohn at the office of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (MAL). Our purpose was to talk to the publisher about starting a peer-reviewed journal on breastfeeding. Your Editor had been on a mission for several years to start such a journal. She had been on the team of clinical toxicologists who founded the Journal of Clinical Toxicology. She knew the drill. She trekked from publisher to publisher to find some interest. The answer was always the same; “There will be no readers.” “It would cost $700 per issue for each subscriber.” “You have to be kidding!” Our beloved colleague, Audrey Naylor, had known Karla in a former life working with Wellstart International. The invitation to meet in New Rochelle was a gift from God.

The day of the meeting arrived. Cindy Howard and I drove down from Rochester. We assembled around the table in the publisher's office. After exchanging a few pleasantries, we stated our purpose, and Mary Ann asked with an air of disbelief, “Well, what is there to say about breastfeeding?” Your Editor, seized with panic, took a deep breath and recited the 23 titles from the chapters of her textbook. The discussion was intense. Several hours later we had a plan, a verbal agreement, and a personal commitment from Mary Ann Liebert.

Mary Ann graciously offered the Editor's chair to me and assigned Vicki Cohn, Executive Vice President, the job of launching the journal with us. After months of preparation and hard work, we had designed a cover—simple, academic, and stunning. The publishers offered the Board of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) the opportunity to have the journal as ABM's official journal, which the board accepted.

Such an arrangement still meant that it was MAL's publication and responsibility.

Then an incredibly generous offer came from the publisher. They would manage ABM as well, an offer they did not make to the other 60 journals they published at the time. ABM was in significant financial trouble, with the IRS beating on the door. MAL salvaged ABM, and Karla Shepard Rubinger was assigned as our ABM Executive Director. Miraculously, Karla was able to completely transform the organization into a solvent, code-compliant, forward-moving academy. It happened because of Mary Ann's generosity and Karla's incredible talent for grant writing and business savvy. While Karla was righting the ship, the editor and the editorial team, including Cindy Howard, Audrey Naylor, and the Editorial Board, launched the first issue with the name Breastfeeding Medicine, secured over the loud objections of those who wanted it to be called “The Journal of … … … .”

The first few years the journal was a quarterly, beginning with Volume 1, Issue 1, released in Spring 2006. In February 2010, Breastfeeding Medicine began publishing bimonthly (six issues per year). Beginning in 2014, the journal has expanded to 10 issues per year (monthly, with two double issues).

David S. Newburgh, PhD, a member of the research faculty at Boston College and an international expert on milk oligosaccharides, became Associate Editor responsible for the bench science.

Edward R. Newton, MD, Immediate Past Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at East Carolina University, Greenville, assumed the responsibility of shepherding manuscripts in the obstetrical domain.

Dr. Robert Lawrence, a member of the infectious disease faculty at the University of Florida School of Medicine, Gainesville, became Senior Associate Editor to watch over the many manuscripts involving infectious disease.

In the shadows has always been Jeeran Ok, our journal's Production Editor. She has faithfully transformed the information I have sent her into the well-organized and linguistically correct journal you read. In December 2011, Karen Cloud-Hansen, PhD, came on board as Editorial Coordinator. She has organized the chaotic burden of hundreds of manuscripts into a well-documented pool of potential articles and helped with all the communications necessary to keep reviewers available and authors informed about the status of their writings.

Reviewers are essential to creating a scientifically correct but interesting journal. We know it is hard work, and we thank you. Authors, of course, are critical to the success of the quality of the content. Thank you for submitting your articles, especially when you might have tried The New York Times first. We thank all our readers and the breastfeeding community for your support and encouragement.

There are no words to adequately acknowledge the support of Vicki Cohn. Vicki has been patient, kind, generous, and ever so helpful in supporting the Editor on good days and bad. I cannot personally thank her enough.

We have never thanked Mary Ann Liebert for her generosity, her faith, her trust, and her unwavering support, not only for Breastfeeding Medicine, but for ABM. Thank you, Mary Ann, and we salute you not only as an outstanding publisher and a leader of women, but as a real leader of all humanity.

After nine volumes and many hours of manuscript appraisal, this is my last issue as Editor-in-Chief. In my place will be our dear friend and faithful colleague, Arthur Eidelman, whose editorial experience is broad, whose organizational skills are exemplary, and whose leadership has already been demonstrated during his presidency of ABM in 2012 and 2013. Having had the privilege of working with Arthur in many arenas for many years, I know that he is not only the best choice for the editor's chair, but he will take the journal to a new level of excellence.