I understand from some Louisiana folks that this is true. The lactation consultant is an IBCLC and an employee of the formula company. They tell me that she speaks on the benefits of breastfeeding for about 30 minutes (no real information is given on how to help the breastfeeding process) then a rep talks the rest of the time about how mothers shouldn't be made to feel guilty, etc. for bottlefeeding and why their product is the one to suggest to the mothers. The dinner is usually a really nice steak dinner. The rep gives out the companies breastfeeding educational materials that contain handouts for moms, slides, videos, flip charts, etc. in a really nice canvas bag to everyone who attends. If you would like to communicate with someone in LA who knows about this directly, e-mail me privately. Camille Foretich, BS, IBCLC, CHES Breastfeeding Educator MS State Department of Health/WIC P.O. Box 1700 Jackson, MS 39215-1700 1-800-545-6747 *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html