Mary Ann Kerwin (born 1931) is an American lawyer and

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that bre ...

activist. One of the seven founders of

La Leche League La Leche League International (LLLI) () is a non-governmental, nonprofit organization that organizes advocacy, education, and training related to breastfeeding. It is present in about 89 countries. The aim of the charity is to provide mother to ...

in 1956, she established the

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

branch of the advocacy group and drafted state laws on behalf of women who breastfeed their infants in public and in the workplace. She was inducted into the

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2020, 170 women have been inducted. History There was a short-lived recogniti ...

in 2012.

Early life, education, and marriage

Mary Ann Collins was born in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in 1931 and moved to the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

area as a child. She earned her B.A. in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

, minoring in education, at Barat College of the Sacred Heart, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

college in

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Fore ...

, in 1953. After graduation she took some teaching jobs; later she worked as a

travel agent A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinati ...

. In December 1954, she married Thomas Joseph Kerwin (1930–2008), a graduate of Loyola University. They had six sons, one of whom died in infancy, and three daughters.

La Leche League

In 1956 Kerwin's sister-in-law, Mary White, invited her to the inaugural meeting of La Leche League at White's home. The idea for a breastfeeding advocacy organization was developed by White and Marian Tompson while they breastfed their infants at a church picnic in summer 1956. At the time, American mothers interested in

natural childbirth Natural childbirth is childbirth without routine medical interventions, particularly anesthesia. Natural childbirth arose in opposition to the techno-medical model of childbirth that has recently gained popularity in industrialized societies. Natur ...

and breastfeeding received little support from the medical community. In the US, only one in five newborns were breastfed from birth; most were immediately fed from bottles. Other women approached the two to discuss their experiences breastfeeding their infants and the discouragement they had received from pediatricians. White and Thompson decided to start a breastfeeding advocacy group and invited a few women, who invited their acquaintances; the seven founders were White, Tompson, Kerwin, Edwina Froehlich, Viola Lennon, Mary Ann Cahill, and Betty Wagner, all Catholic mothers. Kerwin, expecting her second child at the time, had received help from White and her husband, Dr. Gregory White, a

family doctor Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary ...

, to successfully breastfeed her first baby. The women held several meetings at White's house in

Franklin Park, Illinois Franklin Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,467 at the 2020 census, up from 18,333 at the 2010 census. It was named for real estate broker Lesser Franklin who bought acres of the area when it was a maj ...

, to discuss the type of information and support breastfeeding mothers would need. They held their first official meeting on October 17, 1956 at White's house, attended by the seven founders and five of their acquaintances who were expecting. Their second meeting drew 30 attendees, and the fourth attracted a standing-room-only audience. The women developed a series of monthly educational meetings, and near the end of the decade began publishing informational material. In 1958 Kerwin co-authored the group's first handbook, ''The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding''. In 1960 the Kerwins moved to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where they purchased the Cranmer House, residing there for three decades. Kerwin founded the Colorado chapter of La Leche League and also served as chair of the international board.

Legal career

In 1986 Kerwin earned her J.D. at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

. She practiced

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage ...

and general litigation until retiring. As the Colorado Breast-feeding Task Force Legislation Representative for the Colorado Breast-feeding Coalition, Kerwin drafted several pieces of legislation on behalf of nursing women. The two that were passed into law were the 2004 Breastfeeding in Public Act and the 2008 Nursing Mothers' Act for Workplace Accommodation. In 2006 Kerwin withdrew her draft legislation aimed at protecting a woman's right to

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they ...

breast milk Breast milk (sometimes spelled as breastmilk) or mother's milk is milk produced by mammary glands located in the breast of a human female. Breast milk is the primary source of nutrition for newborns, containing fat, protein, carbohydrates ( la ...

in the workplace due to lack of support from the governor.

Awards and honors

Kerwin was inducted into the

in 2012.

References and sources

References Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerwin, Mary Ann 1931 births Living people Breastfeeding activists Colorado lawyers University of Denver alumni Barat College alumni Activists from Wisconsin American health activists Activists from Colorado American women lawyers Travel agents (people)