Marian Tompson

Marian Leonard Tompson is one of the seven founders of La Leche League International. She was President of La Leche League for 24 years, from 1956 to 1980, and a member of the Founders Advisory Council until her resignation in November 2024, following policy changes regarding the inclusion of transgender women.

Interviews

In the September/October 1982 issue of Mother Earth News, Mrs. Tompson was interviewed about La Leche League and the benefits of homebirth.

In March, 2007, Mrs. Tompson was interviewed by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. “I had wanted to breastfeed my babies. Yet with my first three babies, and I had three different doctors, I was never able to breastfeed past six months,” Tompson said."

In an interview on December 27, 2007, by the Pioneer Press for the Wilmette Life she explained how she was elected the first president of La Leche League: "They made me the president because it was my idea," Tompson said. "I was very shy and retiring."

She also described her first medication free birth at a local hospital: "I was the only one in the hospital they had seen who had a natural birth," Tompson said. When Tompson gave birth to her third child, a group of 17 hospital employees—externs, interns, even the receptionist—came to watch. "They circled my delivery table," Tompson said. "After it was over, one of the residents walked up to my doctor and said, 'Doctor, how did you do it?'"

Publications

"Passionate Journey, My Unexpected Life", Marian Leonard Tompson with Melissa Clark Vickers, Hale Publishing L.P., 2011, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, La Leche League International, Co-author, 1st-6th Editions, 1958, 1963, 1981, 1987, 1991 "The convenience of breast feeding" American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 24, Issue 8, 991–992, August 1, 1971 Article