Some people have been wondering where Ross Labs gets their list of mothers to whom they send surveys on infant feeding practices. Ross Laboratories obtains the list of mothers to survey from a variety of sources. According to their 1997 study, The Resurgence of Breastfeeding in the United States by Alan S. Ryan published in Pediatrics at http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/99/4/e12 , "Questionnaires were mailed to a representative sample of mothers when their infants were 6 months old. The sample was drawn from a list of births that represented 80% to 85% of all new mothers in the United States. The list included names from hospital sources, county records of birth registrations, photography and diaper services, entrepreneurial sources, and newspapers. Mothers were asked to recall the type of milk fed to their infants immediately after birth, in the hospital, and during each of the first 6 months of life. The list included all commercial infant formulas, human milk, cow milk, and milk from other sources (eg, goat and evaporated). Each mother was also asked to answer questions describing her sociodemographic status. To maintain consistency, the RLMS questionnaire has not changed markedly over time; the list of infant formulas is updated as new formulas are introduced into the marketplace." This study notes the response rate is consistently in the range of 50% ± 5% which would be considered a good response rate for a mailed questionnaire, especially one which is somewhat difficult to read such as this one. It amazes me that the Ross Labs Mothers Survey is really the only nationwide, longitudinal study of breastfeeding initiation and duration rates in the United States. I strongly believe that these statistics should be collected by an impartial third party, not a formula manufacturer. Sara Dodder Furr, breastfeeding advocate and volunteer Lincoln, Nebraska USA *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html