In a message dated 3/14/97 12:09:08 PM, Jan B. wrote: <<Why wait until everything has gone downhill?>> One reason to hesitate would be that the health care provider (doc in this case) does not feel comfortable with, knowledgeable of, solutions and interventions that maintain breastfeeding. Hopefully the HCP was not waiting until the point that BF would be deemed a failure and follow with the recommendation of switching totally to ABM. Seems too often that is the scenario. <<Don't these docs recognize a downward spiral? Sigh.>> Guess not. Guess you would just have to explain things. Including how, in response to the mom's appropriate concern, you used simple, temporary interventions that facilitated the continuation of breastfeeding, gave the mother peace of mind and encouragement, corrected an inadequate weight gain, and avoided a potentially serious situation. The process of educating ourselves *and* our fellow HCP's can be time consuming, but very productive. Deb