I, for one, am going to send Madonna a letter and ask her, mother to mother, to think about helping out. She could even do a quick UNICEF promo or something - worth a try.

Have been identifying with all of the frustrations expressed. It takes years for the pain of percieved failure to dim, but it does.

Giving the mother control/empowerment is one of the biggest issues.Many times when dealing with new, uncertain moms, I  ask- who the person is that knows the baby best in the whole world??? Guess what, is not the doc or LC.

Sometimes at  the end of a consult, if the solution involves more than positioning or something that can be grasped easily (OK it was not meant as a pun) and if I see that the is a glint of doubt in the mother's eye, I negociate. Like what do YOU think you should do with this info? It helps. Also, basic hug therapy at the end of the consult helps in many cases, I always feel we are giving a lot more than info.

You do the best you can - that means the mothers and we the caregivers.

Linda Smith - I think your quotes by breastfeeding or breastfudding geniuses is material for a good joke book. Figure it this way, giving antibiotics for colostrum's appearance was better than cutting off the breasts.

Am really enjoying the book excepts on BFing, thank you all who have the patience to copy them on to the NET.

Evi in STILL sunny Tel-Aviv