>Dear Kathleen:

I gave a one hour to medical students on breastfeeding as part of their OB
rotation.  The points I covered were the risks of artificial feeding (Marsha
Walker's article is eye opening reading and even if you don't want to
discuss it I would definitely hand it out. An alternate article would be
Jelliffee and Jellifee's article (sorry for the spelling) in the Journal of
Pediatrics. I mention the cost of artificial feeding (monetary) and then
give the real basic how to's (i found a few pictures help here. I also
mention the 10 steps so at least they will be familiar with the concept and
provide them with a bibliography of the literature supporting the ten steps
as many of the steps sound "so radical".  I stress to them that their job as
physicians is at first to do no harm so they should NEVER tell a women to
stop breastfeeding unless they are ABSOLUTELY sure that she has to (and
their are very few reason's for that). I also mention common misperceptions
about breastfeeding among medical professionals (how long a woman can
breastfeed, it doesn't really matter etc.).
(I wrote an article this year for NEW JERSEY MEDICINE entitled "Medical Care
of the Lactating Woman" which might be helpful as a summary article if you
can get a hold of it - I would mail you a copy but it will probably come
after your lecture. If really interested I could try to dig it up on file
and see if I can email)

Deena Zimmerman MD MPH IBCLC