Sue wrote, << I must have missed the new Ross stats (if they have been published) but am delighted to learn that the overall initiation rate is now at 70%. We ARE making a difference. yea. >> That's incredible -- if it is true. And if it is true (and I haven't seen published stats either, so I have no real reason to believe it isn't), that means the rates have gone, in one year, from 59.7% in 1995, to over 70% by the end of 1996? In ONE year? It took from 1991 (51%) to 1995 to get up to 59.7 - %. Four years to go 8 percentage points. I'm incredulous that it would go up over 10 percentage points in one year...generally Ross publishes their stats for the previous year around June of the year following (so the latest stats published would be for the end of 1996). Does anyone have the stats from Ross? The last I saw them when Pat Bull published them here on lactnet was that the bf rates for NON-WIC moms was over 70%, but putting all moms together around the country, it brought it down to the 59%. Jan Barger who isn't home so doesn't have the Tribune article, but is hoping her husband is savvy enough to SAVE it for her....