Have any others in the US noticed a difference in their work experience since the TV show? Particularly those of you in private practice? Before the program I was meeting myself on the freeway. (I do only home visits.) I was painfully busy--new clients every day. But since the program I have had only 2 calls from new clients, one of which was a baby who wasn't transferring milk. We talked and mom was hesitant to arrange a consult that day. When I called back she had weaned to abm because "baby is so satisfied." Now, I know from experience that this work is erratic and I have had slumps before, but the timing was so close. The same thing happened in '95 after the WSJ article and TV Magazine shows. At that time, the pharmacy where I get my breastpumps had a sizable drop in rentals too. It took over 6 months for things to *begin* to creep back to normal. There may not be much change in initiation rates in hospitals, but my work is after problems begin to show up at home. I'm thinking that with the program's "hammering home" the message that breastfeeding is a risk to baby, a new mother is more vulnerable to suggestions that it is self serving for her to continue to breastfeed when things aren't going well. She is no longer proud of the excellent care she is giving her baby. But, you know, it wasn't the parents with the new baby that were sitting on the couch watching TV on a Wednesday night. It was the grandparents--and those crisis scenes, the ridiculous angst of the physicians, and the deep fears and unhappy baby hit them very hard. It is then difficult for them to be supportive of the new parents' venturing into that great unknown of breastfeeding. And they, too, aren't proud to tell their peers that their grandchild is being breastfed. Their peers watched the program too. I'll be interested to see if any others of you have had a similar experience. Our TV station didn't use the VNR but they did have a good spot in the news following, including a LLLL, an MD, and a mother in a NICU. I thought that it was good. Patricia Gima, IBCLC Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Upper Midwest USA, where she has plenty of time to read and respond to Lactnet these days. :( mailto:[log in to unmask]