Ro, My heart goes out to you.  I have (several years ago) worked in a
hospital like you describe and I found it very distressing.  Improvements
were made, slowly, slowly and now I hear from friends still working there
that they have come a long way.  Persistence and consumer pressure were the
things that seemed to work eventually.  Here in Oz the paediatricians in the
postnatal wards don't have a lot to do with breastfeeding so it was mostly
my peers I was battling.  Maybe some educational sessions for the midwives
(is that what you call them/us over there?) might see changes from that
level that the paediatricians would find difficult to control.
Good luck and look after yourself - it's a long road ahead :-y

Denise Fisher
Brisbane, Australia