Thanks for all suggestions so far. It's not too late to get your 5 ml in either, if you haven't gotten around to writing yet. My thoughts before I posted were that the following should be included: on-cue feeding (what it is and how it plays out in the first days), the baby's inborn ability and how to allow baby to use it, that *normal* breastfeeding does *not* involve skin trauma and constant pain the first few weeks, and what you should be able to expect in a Baby-Friendly unit. Our parliament decreed a few years ago that Baby-Friendly is the minimum standard, only they 'forgot' a few key points, like telling all the units that they had to get in line, and providing for monitoring and enforcement :-(, not to mention providing for adequate staffing. But I figure that an informed group of users of the system will help us pull our socks up! I want to communicate that breastfeeding, like childbirth, works best if it happens in safe surroundings with minimum interference, and that it's normal to need info/support when doing something so new and different. Will also mention that breasts have what babies need, right from the start, provided baby is not prevented from getting hold of it - even though your breasts won't feel 'filled up' for a few days. We have low epidural rates but correspondingly higher opiate analgesia rates, and women are not informed of the effect this has on the baby's ability to feed in the first days after birth. The worst dilemma is from knowing I can not promise them that they will get timely, appropriate help in our unit or in the community if they need it. I've landed on 'you have the right to expect....' but am very open for suggestions for improvement. Rachel *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome