I am pretty sure you will hear from Karleen about this, which will probably be more informative than what I have to say, but I thought I would respond, too. I have not been keeping up with the recent changes in this, but there are some places where foster moms are permitted to breastfeed, and some where they are not. A few people have been trying to change things but, for now, it is necessary to take great care when it comes to the issue. I know someone who had a drug exposed baby who had been making great strides, at his foster mother's breast, where some hateful person on the internet used information from message boards to figure out where this foster mom was and report her. She wasn't lying about it, but had decided just not to bring it up with the agency. After being reported, she was told that she had to stop breastfeeding or lose the baby (despite the miraculous changes it had made in the baby). Of course, staying with this very nurturing mom, and going back to bottles, was definitely the best for the baby, of the choices she had. I think, in most cases, there is no specific rule about it and it depends alot of the individual case worker, and maybe the baby's doctor. With the same agency, there might be one who would support it and another who acted like it was something horrible. There is a message board on ABRW devoted to this issue. Activity there is sporadic, but there is alot of good information in past posts, and also contact information on some of the women who know the most about it. http://www.fourfriends.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=fb I have thought about trying to become a foster parent for high risk infants, but would really hope to be able to breastfeed. The more a baby has going agaisnt him, the more he needs the benefits of breastfeeding. I had adopted two children with serious special needs who are quite amazing breastfeeding success stories! Good luck in supporting this family! Darillyn *********************************************** 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