The 3 Minute Activist
General Hospital (April 2004) - Please have Elisabeth breastfeed her new baby!

Jill Farren Phelps, Executive Producer Megan McTavish, Head Writer General Hospital c/o ABC-TV 4151 Prospect Avenue Hollywood, CA 90027 Dear General Hospital, I have been following Elizabeth's pregnancy storyline with great interest, especially knowing that her portrayer, Rebecca Herbst, is pregnant with her second child. I am so happy that you have chosen to write this pregnancy into the storyline. GH a leader in developing compelling storylines regarding social issues. For this reason, I'd like to ask you to please have Elizabeth choose (enthusiastically) to breastfeed her baby, show discussion about it, and portray her breastfeeding her baby on the show. Because the media have an enormous impact on what we as a culture deem "socially acceptable," GH has tremendous potential for positive influence on the way Americans perceive breastfeeding. Breastfeeding has many benefits to baby and mom. If you are not aware of all the benefits, you can visit http://www.promom.org/101/index.html to view several of them. You may be particularly interested in numbers 5 & 6 on the list which speak about breast cancer, a topic you have portrayed quite well on your show in the past. Although there has been some improvement in breastfeeding rates, those rates are still way too low. We need your help in addressing this issue. Hopefully seeing Elizabeth breastfeed her baby would encourage other mothers to give their baby the best start possible. Thank you for your time and consideration on this important issue. Sincerely, P.S. Please also consider setting a new trend by portraying a mother who nurses into toddler hood! Many of your viewers could positively relate to that experience, and with that you may encounter even more support from nursing moms.
Your name and email from the above fields will automatically be signed for you.