Hi everybody Ro's comments the other day about horrific hospital practices made me wonder once again about training for nurses and doctors. At the LLL convention I went to a session with Ruth Lawrence about this issue. Her basic point was that the info. must be presented in context of the rest of the training and it must be on the exams. Somehow we need to be reaching medical school and nursing school faculty in order to start the new generation out properly educated. Although I do agree that we need to empower mothers and fathers it iss not always enough. Particularly in the hospital new parents are extremely vulnerable. With my second child I was already an LLL leader and I can still remember three incidents in the three days that I was there (20 years ago) where hospital procedures could have made an enormous difference. 1- in the delivery room they wanted to take her away "to put her under the warmer" to prevent a drop in temp. I managed to remember that mother's warmth is also effective in keeping a baby warm, and politely told the nurse that I still needed to hold her I also cited some study I had heard of about this. 2- 24 hours later (rooming in didn't start until 48 hours) I went to the nursery and saw her crying. I asked for her, since her chart said demand feeding, and was told that Because of shift change, I would have to wait a few minutes until they could get her ready. I don't know exactly where my brains where but I stood there for 1/2 hour until they brought her out to me. The door was right there and yet I didn't go in. 3- The morning of her discharge the nurse came in and saw the breastfeeding log that rooming in mothers were required to keep. We also had to weigh pre and post feeds. Anyhow I had been nursing like clockwork every 2 hours (she stayed on that schedule for about 6 months). With her voice dripping scorn and I don"t know what else, she said"you're not going to do that at home,Are You?" I managed to say something and turned around to the phone and called my co-leader. Moral - I have always considered myself reasonably assertive, even before it was in style, and not afraid of a good fight over a matter of principle when it was important but I remained vulnerable. In order to help most women we need to do aa better job educating health care providors of all types in a meaningful way. In my opinion the nurses who do so much of the primary care still have a lot to learn abou7t breastfeeding. I don't think we can afford to let generation upon generation of these health care providers leave school without adequate bf education. In service and continuing ed. is not enough. Sorry to ramble on so long but I have been seeing and hearing almost the same stuff for 21 years as a leader and I get frustrated sometimes. Sarah Barnett LLL leader, NYC