Pamela, I think what you have described sounds like a very clear way to work within the health care system, which is where LCs are located. You have made it explicit to women what you are doing (not all HCPs do this) and with whom you will consult. What I was picking up on was the different relationship of the hospital to the LLLLs you reported in your original post. As I said, I am not familiar with their code of conduct and working practices -- any LLLLs want to comment? -- but was pointing out that the lay organisations I have worked for in the UK have based our codes of conduct more on the models used in counselling bodies (in our case we look to the British Association of Counselling, which, in turn, is guided by EC regualtions and practice in the area). This is a different model with different explicit aims. I wondered if the confidentiality which is our working practice was part of the difficulty in terms of these LLL workers coming into hospital. I know that LCs work in a different way to lay breastfeeding supporters, and I don't have a problem with that, although I think it would be great if everyone concerned understood the differences. It took me a while to work the whole thing out, (so probably I have some of it wrong!) but I know in the UK LCs are very thin on the ground and low profile (do we have one or two in private practice in the country???) so few have heard of them. Lay breastfeeding supporters are still very poorly understood by health workers and by women before they come into contact. This confidentiality aspect always seems to puzzle HCPs when I work with them, so I thought the same might be true for your local LLLLs. For the record: we put confidentiality so high BECAUSE we are outside the health service and provide a safe place for women to come with their issues about breastfeeding. One of the most fundemental reasons for lay organisations to exist is to have a place to address some of the iatrogenic --i.e. caused by the health care system -- difficulties women experience with breastfeeding. We do a different job from LCs although our work overlaps a lot. Hence the need for different ways of working. It would be interesting to hear what you, and anyone else, thinks of these different models, and how we can better understand the ways each sort of breastfeeding worker works. Magda Magda Sachs Breastfeeding Supporter The Breastfeeding Network Uppermill, Saddleworth, near Oldham, UK