Thank you Dr. Newman!

With the rise of the nuclear family, there has been a decrease in the number of women who breast feed. We no longer have a village raising a infant, and there are limited resources for those who want to nurse. I can't just ask the women of my village for help, not here in my suburban subdivision. This book and Dr. Newman's website have helped me to breastfeed my baby exclusively for four months now. I've gone back to work and am expressing milk, and I got advice on how to help my sitter feed expressed milk to my daughter. I was lucky to have lactation consultants while in the hospital, although they put me on a breast shield that took weeks to wean. My friend wasn't so lucky, but she used this book, La Leche League, and persevered. Now, 4 weeks later, she is able to breastfeed her son. There's so much more advice to be had, too. I use this book as a reference constantly, and we're now getting advice on feeding our baby solids. Good luck to all you mothers out there. Thank you for breastfeeding--you're doing the absolute best for your infantren!

[Sunday, December 21, 2008]

Supportive and thorough

Jack Newman provides all the information for breastfeeding moms. He's really thorough and maintains that all women can and should breastfeed their infantren. He's a big advocate!

[Sunday, September 07, 2008]

No problem too big for this book

I borrowed this from my local library a couple of weeks before my daughter was born. I chose it because of the plentiful illustrations that I thought would help me establish a good latch.

How wrong I was! Though there are lots of pictures and explainations on how to achieve a good latch, I found I needed the hands-on help of an LC to actually get it. Pictures just weren't enough.

However, the real value of this book was something I had not taken into account when choosing it. Dr. Newman is very pro-breastfeeding, to the point of militancy. Though his tone can be a bit alarming it is successful at hitting home a number of valuable points.

1) Nearly all babies can be breastfed. As long as the mother makes the commitment and reaches out for support, any problem can be solved. Babies learn to breastfeed by breastfeeding, so stick with it!

2) Formula makers have spent millions of dollars convincing mothers that formula is a good second-best alternative to breastfeeding. Dr. Newman says that it's at most a fourth-best alternative and should be treated as such.

3) Bottles are harmful to the establishment of breastfeeding and should be avoided completely until breastfeeding is firmly established, and better yet, avoided altogether.

4) Pediatricians and hospitals are just not well-trained when it comes to breastfeeding thanks to years of formula's dominance. If you are not getting the support you need, seek it out elsewhere. Don't reflexivly kow-tow to their authority if it means undermining your breastfeeding relationship with your little one.

Though I had plentiful supply, I had problems in the first weeks with the latch and might have broken down and used some of the free formula the hospital gave us (yes, Dr. Newman rails against that common practice as well) if I had not read this book and known that I could overcome my problems with help and patience. I know too many women who gave up on breastfeeding because it was not as easy as they were led to believe. Dr. Newman's book helped me with my resolve and to a lesser extent with technique.

Though some women may recoil at his very anti-bottle and formula stance, that should not detract from the important message of the book. Breastfeeding may be natural, but it's still a skill that has to be learned and practiced to get right.

[Monday, July 28, 2008]

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