I've really appreciated so far all the good advice I've gotten from all of you. I'm wondering more on a philosophical level today, as I've been looking over my delivery record for the last year. I am a family physician who also does deliveries. I've been quite pleased with my OB patients' breastfeeding iniation rates (73% this calendar year, pretty high for our area) but have been pretty disappointed with how many are still breastfeeding for any duration. I'm wondering if any of you have suggestions for helping to increase duration. Currently, I give all my pregnant patient's a letter from me about prenatal care and my practice philosophy, along with a packet of information that includes several LLL tear off sheets on the why to breastfeed issue. I also include a patient education handout from the AAFP on breastfeeding, and a list of the relative risk of various illnesses with formula feeding (from the AAFP position statement on infant feeding) and also a LLL flyer from the local group, with their phone number and meeting times. At each birth, I always stay to see baby feeding for the first time, practice breastfeeding supportive practices as much as possible, and give out local LLL phone number, and the number to our IBCLC at WIC (who is also available for consultations if there is a problem, although not at the hospital regularly.) I remind them that I am always available for emergency breastfeeding help, also. At every well baby visit, I reinforce the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, try to praise and support moms who are doing well. I list all this just so perhaps you can tell me what else, or what instead perhaps I could do to encourage longer duration. Currently, I have a lot of moms that wean partially or completely within the first few months, many for what seem to me fairly casual reason. I have very few babies exclusively breastfed for 6 mos, even fewer still nursing at a year. There is very little breastfeeding culture here in rural central Illinois, so many of my patients have so little support. So, wise ones, any ideas on what else I can do to help my patients to continue breastfeed? Anything you think I can add (or should subtract, perhaps?) I'd appreciate any input on what has worked for anyone else, also. Jennifer Tieman Family Physician Mom to 3, and new baby #4 expected 5/31/03 *********************************************** 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(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html