The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

Summary (from the publisher): It’s no secret that breastfeeding is the normal, healthy way to nourish and nurture your baby. Dedicated to supporting nursing and expectant mothers, the internationally respected La Leche League has set the standard for educating and empowering mothers in this natural art for generations. Now their classic bestselling guide has been retooled, refocused, and updated for today’s mothers and lifestyles. Working mothers, stay-at-home moms, single moms, and mothers of multiples will all benefit from the book’s range of nursing advice, stories, and information—from preparing for breastfeeding during pregnancy to feeding cues, from nursing positions to expressing and storing breast milk. With all-new photos and illustrations, this ultimate support bible offers:

• real-mom wisdom on breastfeeding comfortably—from avoiding sore nipples to simply enjoying the amazing bonding experience
• new insights into old approaches toward latching and attaching, ages and stages, and answers to the most-asked questions
• strategies for moms who choose to breastfeed for a short time or who plan to nurse for a year or more
• reassuring information on nursing after a C-section or delivery complications
• recent scientific data that highlight the many lifelong health benefits of breastfeeding
• helpful tips for building your support network—at home or when back at work
• nursing special-needs infants, premies, multiples, and how to thrive no matter what curveball life throws
• guidance on breast health issues, weight gain, day care, colic, postpartum depression, food allergies, and medications

Plus Internet references for further information, including La Leche League support sites and groups.

Mothers bringing babies into a new world want sustainable, healthy, positive ways to help their children blossom and thrive. There is no better beginning for your baby than the womanly art of breastfeeding.  

 

Review: This comprehensive book provides nearly 500 pages of insight, tips, and benefits of breastfeeding versus formula feeding. Filled with nursing advice including helpful tips, stories from real moms, and references for more information, this book is great for both an expectant mother wanting to learn more and a new mother who may consult specific chapters of the books for troubleshooting and guidance.

 

However, that being said, this book has a clear stance and agenda. It is vehemently pro-breastfeeding, co-sleeping, feeding on demand, and baby-led weaning - almost to the exclusion of any possible alternatives. It is anti-formula, any type of medicine or pain intervention during labor, and not particularly supportive of working mothers who are looking for advice on pumping when they return to work. I read the overview on working moms during a particularly vulnerable phase of researching and planning for daycare and was devastated reading the book recount the downsides to having your child in daycare. One of the only anecdotes in this section features a story from a working mom who dropped her baby off at daycare for the first day only to drive to work and resign and return for her baby. In other words, the authors made it very clear that they advocate for any woman reading to do the same rather than commit the sin of leaving your child with caregivers.  While this book does provide some overview of pumping and storing breast milk, it makes it clear that it disapproves of mothers who resort to pumping rather than stay with their child and maintaining a close physical relationship through breastfeeding. In no way did this book come across as supportive or encouraging of mothers who want to or have to continue working.

 

Furthermore, breastfeeding is a huge commitment and is not always possible for all mothers and babies. This book rammed the extreme benefits of breastfeeding home to the extent that I now feel paralyzed with anxiety at the thought of it not working and how I will clearly be a terrible mother if I fail in this capacity and have to resort to formula. In all, I feel like manifestos like this book are part of the problem behind mothers being shamed for how they parent their child. While it's of little doubt that breastfeeding is healthiest for the child, this book made it its mission to beat this idea into the heads of its readers rather than focusing on being a resource and source of support for the choices of all mothers, who likely sought this book out because they are already trying to be the best mother they can be.

 

Stars: 2

 

Related Titles:

• What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff
• Baby & Me: The Essential Guide to Pregnancy and Newborn Care by Deborah D. Stewart and Jenny B. Harvey