We started on at our hospital some years ago.  It was advertised with posters on the unit, info included in patient education notebooks and through the hopsital newsletter.  Attendance was pretty good right from the start.  We didn't ever have any formal program or discussion topic, which was quite different from LLL meetings where there was always a general topic (but moms could also bring up whatever concerns they had).  Moms would introduce themselves, comment on whatever their experiencehad been and any concerns.  We did try to get them to keep their introductory comments brief, make note of the concerns and then get back to the discussion after everyone had had a chance to introduce themselves.  We emphasized that this was NOT the venue for getting extensive help with a problem-for that they should make an outpatient appointment.  This kept the LC free to facilitate the overall discussion and avoid the necessity of charting it all at the group.  We had a scale so moms could weigh their babies if they wished.  Other than showing them how to use the scale, the LCs were not involved in the actual weighing as we were told that if we did, we would have to then set up formal charting of the info.  If the moms wanted to write the weight on the sign up sheet, they could, but it was for their reference to check back from week to week if they wished.  Of course, they were encouraged to bring up concerns with the weight and if baby was losing or gaining very little, they were encouraged to set up an appointment with the LC.
We started with the idea that this would be for moms in the first 6 weeks, but some continued to come for ongoing support, to encourage others and for an opportunity to get out of the house to a place that was accepting of baby and breastfeeding.  We also made sure moms had info about local LLL groups.  some went to both (In some cases, needing a "suport fix" weekly, not just monthly).  Others seemed to want the "professional" setting rather than the informal mom-to-mom setting.  I feel that there is a place for both and they arenot necessarily in competition with each other.
Hope there is some info here of helo to you.  Basically we found, "If you build it, they will come".

Winnie

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

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]