Tell this doctor that your *anthropologist* friend who does research on breastfeeding in Mali (West Africa) would REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY like to have his reference for this 90% figure. Ask him nicely and sincerely, for me, please. :) It is true that there are some cultures where the infant is wet-nursed, and some where it just isn't fed at all til the milk "comes in" and still others where it gets a "medicinal" tea, but these examples are by no means the vast majority (as 90% would be). In most places, baby goes to breast within the first 23-48 hours, and no one is around to check bilirubin levels or dehydration, but most babies do fine. You might also provide him with some references on the "normality" of high bili levels. Human babies are designed to expect that only their mother will nurse them (no ABM, no wet nurses).