Unfortunately, a lot of doctors, especially those early in their training, don't think they have anything to learn from non-physicians. In our residency, we see this a lot with our first years who learn about birth from CNM's. It's going better, but I understand there was a lot of conflict in the early years of the program. I don't want to discourage anyone (LC's, RN's, etc.)from trying to teach med students and doctors about breastfeeding, just pointing out a sad fact. You may find you increase your credibility by finding a physician to assist you or at least introduce you and tell them how important it is that they learn how to be supportive of breastfeeding. I spend a lot of time on my soapbox, and I think it helps some, but there's always farther to go. I gave a talk this past week on pain management in labor (started and ended with psychoprophylaxis and doula's, so I hope that's the part they remember--most questions of course were about narcotics and epidurals). I included info about the effects on breastfeeding, complete with references, and I sure got some surprised looks. I think they listened, though. I'm preparing my annual talk on breastfeeding and can't decided whether to do my "why I am a breastfeeding fanatic and why you should be one too" talk, or my "how to help moms bf (practical stuff)" talk. I'm afraid if I try to combine them into one in just one hour, I won't say much of anything useful... By the way, thanks for the input on the mom with the persistent lump. I've passed it on to my colleague. She says the mom plans to wean soon anyway "so she can go back to work". :( I'll let you know if I get any more info. -- Anne Montgomery, M.D. [log in to unmask] Olympia, WA