The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding: Seventh Revised Edition (La Leche League International Book)
by La Leche League International
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Book Summary Information
Author: La Leche League InternationalEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-05-25
ISBN: 0452285801
Number of pages: 463
Publisher: Plume
Book Reviews of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding: Seventh Revised Edition (La Leche League International Book)
Book Review: Not enough info about breastfeeding, way too much info about LLL and Dr. Sears, and very judgmental/dogmatic in tone
Summary: 1 Stars
Since this is the only breastfeeding book I read (although I read several pamphlets), I was very interested in the more detailed advice I thought I would get from a book. The Amazon description says:
In this newly revised edition of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, you will learn:
* How human milk offers lifetime benefits for your baby
* How to prepare for breastfeeding during pregnancy
* How to exercise and lose weight safely while nursing
* How to find time for yourself while meeting baby's needs
* How to increase your milk supply by using herbs and medications
* How to be sure your baby is getting enough to eat
But I only remember the book covering the first and last thing on this list. So I learned barely anything the book even claims to teach. But I quickly began to notice three very annoying and at times also very disheartening things:
1) The obvious main purpose of this book is to advertise LLL and get people to join. On virtually every page is a pushy advertising and/or glowing praise of LLL, to the point that I started thinking to myself "Is this group a cult or something?" From the very beginning of the book they give the strong impression that if you do not join an LLL group, you are going to fail at breastfeeding... and if you fail at breastfeeding, you have failed as a mother, so you'd better join LLL so you don't fail! The extreme level of advertising for LLL was VERY surprising to me, and it got really annoying really quickly.
2) Over half of the book appears to be devoted to Dr. Sears and his "attachment parenting" methods. On almost every page is a quote by Dr. Sears. And I keep thinking, wait, this is a BREASTFEEDING book, not a PARENTING book. Why is all this in here? And if you feel you have to give parenting advice, what about giving a more balanced representation of parenting advice instead of just from one guy? It does explain why the book is so long.
3) They cover only a very limited range of options or scenarios from which to choose and still feel like a good or effective parent. Working is discouraged. Planned weaning is discouraged. Etc. And they cite many examples of the mothering styles in obscure places like Guam and tribal New Guinea to support their methods, as if those styles are automatically superior to our own culture for some odd, unexplained reason. I certainly don't think America has the corner on parenting and our priorities certainly can tend to be screwy, but they give no evidence that the mothering styles in these remote locations produces better results over the long-term. And then there's the biggie: if you for some reason end up having to formula-feed, you just might as well give up parenting and put your baby up for adoption! At least, that's the impression the book gives about using formula. I absolutely want to breastfeed, but really, a baby raised on formula will turn out just fine. In fact my husband and I both had to be formula-fed by mothers who had really wanted to breastfeed but could not for very legitimate and serious health reasons... and we have genius IQs, successful careers and close and loving relationships with our parents - all things that this book claims are at risk with formula.
The last straw for me was the chapter called "Making a Choice" (about going back to work), especially the quotes by moms who declared they just "couldn't" allow their babies to be cared for by someone else and had grown too attached to their babies, and thus unexpectedly decided to stay home. Gosh, it's so lovely that these moms could afford to make that choice. What about those who just can't... or maybe find they don't feel the same way? There's a paragraph in this same chapter which claims that if you just sit down and look at your finances, you'll probably realize that the mom doesn't really need to work because the expenses (child care, gas, food, clothes, and taxes on her income) will probably cancel out her income. Ummmmm..... that may be true for a small minority of people!
If they had left out the blatant advertising for LLL and the extraneous parenting advice, this book would have been half as long and twice as useful. As it is, I was beginning to feel very stressed out by the time I got halfway through the book and had waded through all the judgmentalism and dogmatic advice.
I decided I will either get The Nursing Mother's Companion: Revised Edition or a DVD, which will probably be more practically useful than a book anyway.
More The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding: Seventh Revised Edition (La Leche League International Book) reviews:
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Summary of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding: Seventh Revised Edition (La Leche League International Book)
All parents want the best for their babies, and there?s no doubt about the fact that human milk is the ideal food for human babies. What?s the secret of successful breastfeeding? For almost fifty years mothers who have been in touch with La Leche League have found the kind of information and support they needed to breastfeed their babies. In this newly revised edition of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, you will learn:
? How human milk offers lifetime benefits for your baby
? How to prepare for breastfeeding during pregnancy
? How to exercise and lose weight safely while nursing
? How to find time for yourself while meeting baby?s needs
? How to increase your milk supply by using herbs and medications
? How to be sure your baby is getting enough to eat
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding was the first book of its kind, written for mothers by mothers. Over the years, more than two million mothers have turned to it for information and inspiration.
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