I am a student at the University of North Dakota, College of Nursing. Last week, as a course requirement, I attended a breastfeeding class for expectant mothers and their significant others. To my surprise, out of the 8 women who attended, only one was accompanied by her partner! This was somewhat discouraging considering that the role of the father has been identified as one of the strongest influences on the success of breastfeeding among mothers in the United States (Cohen, Lange, & Slusser, 2002, p.61). Women's attitudes toward specific infant feeding methods arise, in part, from interactions with various informal (partner, family, friends, peers) and formal (lactation consultants, nurses, physicians) sources of support (Dennis, 2002, p.9). Most influential of those mentioned, is the father. Furthermore, in a substantiating study done by Schmidt and Sigman- Grant, one major issue that was identified between fathers and breastfeeding included the perceived inabiltiy to form a close attachment with the breastfed infant. While researching on this particular topic, I came across "The Fathering Program". These group education classes are specifically designed to address the concerns, issues, and joys that a father might have in relation to breastfeeding. One of the major objectives of these sesssions is to help the father recognize and accept his vital role in the success of breastfeeding (Cohen, Lange, & Slusser, 2002, p.62). In regards to this, has anyone come across similar programs elsewhere? After all, fathers who receive breastfeeding information from such programs are more likely to promote breastfeeding with their partners - something every woman would enjoy! *********************************************** 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