One "soft sign" that might be helpful to ask is, "So what handouts or other
informational sheets do you have about breastfeeding?"  If the doctor has a
wide variety of LLL publications on hand, a copy of the AAP book to loan
out, video, flyer for local LLL meeting, etc., etc., that would be a good
thing.  If the doc says, "Uhhh, we don't have many people ask for that
here," I think that also might be useful to know.

This would tell a couple of things: a) person could review the content of
said information and determine if it was really good material or not; b)
even if his/her attitude toward bf is "pro," does the pediatrician really
have the support tools on hand to help if problem does arise?  (handouts
obviously don't take place of actual observation/coaching, but they can be
indicator of a "prepared ped"); c) is the overall attitude of the
pediatrician interested in teaching and counseling patients?  Because this
is critical not just for successful bf, but for successful parenting: most
pediatric problems need education, not prescriptions.

Suzanne

Suzanne Berman, M.D., FAAP
[log in to unmask]

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html