I second Betsy's thoughts on encouraging moms to breastfeed the way that they "want to". When we as lc's meet a mom where she is, we encourage her as a mother. An encouraged mother is an empowered mother. All it takes is one mom to tell her group of friends how great b/f is working for her and a whole new circle is formed. Mothers are influenced by their culture, no matter what the "experts" say. It is a delicate balance to make sure that the mother is making an informed decision. Telling her about the hazards of formula feeding but encouraging her where she is (even if she continues to unnecessarily supplement or whatever) allows us to preserve our relationship with her. She knows that we haven't lied to her, but by accepting her decison we are not patronizing her or making her feel like she doesn't measure up.I would rather tell a mom going back to work who isn't going to pump that she can b/f when she and baby are together, and support her in that effort, than to have her leave with the idea that b/f is all or nothing. Usually that results in mom going to 100% formula. And guess what, the formula marketers already know this! They don't want mothers to be encouraged to "do both", and they are feeding the media stories (those "surveys" of mother's perceptions of how they are treated by the "other side" that are so popular) of rivalry between bottle-feeding moms (selfish and guilty about it but defiant) vs. breastfeeding moms (militant martyrs who judge mothering quality by feeding method). Our tact and diplomacy in personal situations isn't selling out. We need to counter the formula corporations spin-doctoring of "us" as inflexible and self- righteous by compassionatly caring for mothers one at a time. Moms figure out pretty quick that when the formula recall is announced, nobody gives a damn if their baby is the one that got sick. When we stick to the facts in a public response, such as letter to the editor, rather than get drawn into the arguement (the whole choice thing)we can advocate for mothers, babies, and our profession, and let our integrity speak for itself. *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html