Kathleen (and all who are interested) Having done my talk on the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative yesterday (I survived, despite dropping all the overheads on the floor -- picked them up and dropped the lavelier mic which promptly opened and disgorged it's battery whereupon I couldn't be heard -- but we got that fixed -- what a start!! -- and so much for looking like the quintessential sophisticated professional ;-p ), I can respond to the question re number of BFHI hospitals around the world: According to the BFHI News in January, 1996: West & Central Africa 128 Eastern and Southern Africa 306 Latin America & Caribbean 487 East Asia & the Pacific 2117 (71% of targeted facilities) south Asia 483 Middle East and North Africa 339 Industrialized countries 89 Central & Eastern Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States & Baltic States 51 Thats a total of 4000, or 46% of the targeted 8650 facilities. The US has none, but has 279 hospitals and 18 birthing centers that have applied for a Certificate of Intent, hopefully most of those are ready for external assessment as soon as that is up and ready to fly; perhaps by June or July. Jan Barger Where it was below 0 in Chicago yesterday & walking to the train was NOT fun!