Abstract
Urged by a colleague who had worked with Wellstart International, we invited its founder and CEO to come to our offices in New Rochelle to explore opportunities to publish research in the field of breastfeeding medicine. Although Wellstart was a respected international leader in breastfeeding education and training, with significant support from USAID, we were not certain the field was ready for an academic journal, and we were not certain that its leaders understood what was required to launch a prestigious peer-reviewed publication. I suggested to my colleague, Karla Shepard Rubinger, that she invite the leaders to come to the office for an initial conversation. My thought was that if they accepted our invitation to make the trip across the country from their base in San Diego, they must in fact be serious.
The CEO, Audrey Naylor, MD, was in fact quite serious and brought her colleague, Ruth Lawrence, MD, who was one of the founders of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. We met on a beautiful sunny day in my office 20 years ago and gave birth to the new journal shortly afterward. But the conversation began as I grilled these colleagues about the quality and volume of research in this field. I cautioned them that the success of a journal required two things: enough good submissions and enough interested subscribers. Clearly these two physicians had not thought in these terms, looked quizzically at each other, and then responded affirmatively. I suggested we might consider beginning with just an annual publication to provide an annual review of the research that would test the content and test the market.
The two colleagues agreed but were certain that there was no need for a “test” since they both knew the extensive field of research in breastfeeding medicine, and both knew of the worldwide need for peer-reviewed content. Dr. Naylor provided hands-on knowledge based on her many years of hosting multidisciplinary teams from Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Africa. These teams would embed in San Diego for a 3-week course with a blue-ribbon faculty, ending with certification as Wellstart Associates. Following their certification, they would receive a monthly package, curated by Dr. Naylor, with reprints of the most current and compelling research, policy, and clinical updates in breastfeeding medicine. This package had the markings of a primitive journal!
Based on this experience, Dr. Naylor and Dr. Lawrence moved the discussion to a semi-annual publication, confident about the potential volume of submissions, as well as the worldwide audience of readers. As the conversation and enthusiasm continued, Dr. Lawrence added her experience as the editor of the gold-standard textbook in breastfeeding medicine, weighing in at 1,152 pages (now in its 9th edition!), as additional evidence of the need. The conversation quickly moved back to the possibility of a regular journal. These two leaders provided the evidence I needed. In addition, they brought the professional support of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. Both were founders of the Academy in 1993, a group of physicians whose mission was to educate and empower health professionals to support and manage breastfeeding and lactation.
As the conversation continued, the final component required for success was, of course, leadership. Who could provide the prestige, the professional contacts, and time to build an editorial board and commitment to attract submissions and subscribers? Who could be the Editor in Chief? All eyes turned to Dr. Lawrence, and she did not disappoint….
From her prestigious perch as Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester, Dr. Lawrence became the founding Editor of Breastfeeding Medicine, now a monthly peer-reviewed journal, available for free in 108 developing countries. Dr. Naylor remained right next to her, until her death in 2016, as they built an impressive editorial board that continues this work worldwide today.