Illinois USA
(d. 2003)

Tribute to Dr. Gregory White

LLLI was saddened to hear about the death of Dr. Gregory J. White on Monday June 16, 2003. Dr. White passed away at home from complications due to leukemia.

Dr. White was the husband of LLLI Founder Mary White. In The LLLI Lovestory, Mary is quoted: "Greg had always said to me, 'Naturally you are going to nurse our babies,' and I had always said, 'Of course, naturally, I will.'"

At a time when bottle-feeding and anesthetized childbirth was firmly entrenched in the U.S., Dr. White, who had been trained in family medicine and obstetrics, was devoted to supporting a mother in an unmedicated delivery and breastfeeding. Dr. White noticed a sense of frustration among his patients who wanted to breastfeed but had no support or resources. He suggested to Mary that she and her friends form a group to offer support to mothers who wanted to breastfeed.

Dr. White was one of the few doctors in the 1950s who had successful nursing mothers in his practice. The first La Leche League meetings took place at the Whites home, and often Dr. White would come home as the meeting wound down and he would answer questions from the mothers.

"I thought they would be a nice little local group," Dr. White said in The LLLI Lovestory.

Dr. White was one of the first Medical Advisors of La Leche League and was a member of the Professional Advisory Board for forty-six years. The little local group grew into LLLI that has helped millions of mothers to breastfeed their babies.

In reference to LLL, Dr. White was quoted, "It might have happened anywhere else, and in fact there were several groups for nursing mothers that started at about the same time. But many of these groups were a product of doctors and nurses rather than mothers themselves. They were professionals teaching, rather than mothers helping mothers, and these groups stayed small."

La Leche League will always be grateful to Dr. White for his encouragement, wisdom and support. He was a pioneer in returning women to breastfeeding and natural childbirth. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

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Tribute by Mary Lofton, LLLI