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10th out of 163 books
—
86 voters
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
The long-awaited revised edition!
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 retool...more
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 retool...more
Paperback, completely revised and updated 8th edition, 576 pages
Published
July 13th 2010
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1958)
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I wish I'd read this book before my first child was born! I think it had great advice and was really in depth and thorough. I read a few other breastfeeding books before #1 was born but breastfeeding did not go smoothly and my references books were not very help - didn't address my problem at all. I honestly though the name of the book was weird so I picked something more bland and clinical. I saw 3 lactation consultants and was really frustrated and disappointment with my experience.
When I was...more
When I was...more
The enthusiasm of the writers tend to portray breast feeding as an all encompassing parenting tool. Breast fed babies are smart, secure, happy so you don't even have to parent! Getting past that- the chapters are well organized starting from breast changes in pregnancy all the way toward weaning. Each topic is comprehensively covered. This is written for at home mothers as well as working mothers. It discusses premies, normal, and special cases so a new mother can recognize and address special n...more
I am a huge breast feeding advocate. It saves you a lot of money, it's super convenient, it's better for baby and the closeness you feel with your baby is just breath taking. I nursed my baby for 15 months and I wouldn't trade the experience for the world. Weaning her was hard for both of us!
That being said, breast feeding is a HUGE commitment. In the beginning it hurts and it is a lot of work. It is nothing to be taken lightly. You think it will be natural and instinctive, but it's not. At leas...more
That being said, breast feeding is a HUGE commitment. In the beginning it hurts and it is a lot of work. It is nothing to be taken lightly. You think it will be natural and instinctive, but it's not. At leas...more
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This book has a lot of valuable information in it if you are, or would like to, breastfeed. However, I must say that no one should ever sit down & read the whole thing cover to cover unless they want to know more than anyone ever wanted to about nursing! Use it to troubleshoot, or pick & choose the chapters that apply, but it was really rough to read the whole thing. I cheered when I got through the last page. Although, I have also successfully nursed 3 children already & knew quite...more
For a first time mother looking for reams of information about the technical side of breast feeding, it probably doesn't get better than this. Recommended to me to understand how the body and in particular reproductive system react to the birth of a baby (after worrying a C section might, possibly be on the cards) I found the first section of the book really heart warming and emotional. I started reading it on a train journey and really started welling up at some of the birth stories. It's easy...more
Let's start with the good: this book has many useful tips about breastfeeding, from pumping to the benefits to understanding the reproductive cycle while breastfeeding. It's obviously pro-breastfeeding and offers numerous ways for women committed to breastfeeding to address problems that may arise. I recommend it for these practical reasons. Now for the not-so-good: I've read lots of pregnancy books over the last 8 months. Often I read reviews of these books that detect a condescending tone (e.g...more
Aww, this book is lovely. You really do get to feel like, Breastfeeding is a womanly art. You feel very connected to your baby, your body, the breastfeeding community. You think things to yourself like, God bless those pioneering La Leche founders. Truly, I thought before I had my baby that breastfeeding was beautiful, and I wanted very much to do it, but after actually doing it for a couple of months, I was starting to feel a bit disconnected from it all. Reading this book reminded me that I'm...more
This book is great for the woman already determined to breastfeed, however I worry that a woman on the fence or that is struggling with negative feelings towards breastfeeding, might be put off by the overly positive portrayal of breastfeeding. I've exclusively breastfed two children, for me every moment was a struggle but a worthy one. I will strongly encourage my future childbirth students to breastfeed... so I am on the La Leche League's side, but the judgmental tone of the book put me off. I...more
This is a 2-2.5 star book.
I checked out The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (2004 ed.) from my local library to get a jump start on learning about breastfeeding and particularly about pumping after I return to work (baby is not yet born). It seemed like a really thorough reference for breastfeeding troubleshooting, but I'm not there yet, so I skimmed those parts and read others. I honestly found it almost unbearable to read. The scant number of pages dedicated to working mothers who pump was filled...more
I checked out The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (2004 ed.) from my local library to get a jump start on learning about breastfeeding and particularly about pumping after I return to work (baby is not yet born). It seemed like a really thorough reference for breastfeeding troubleshooting, but I'm not there yet, so I skimmed those parts and read others. I honestly found it almost unbearable to read. The scant number of pages dedicated to working mothers who pump was filled...more
2 likes · like · see review
Nov 18, 2011
Hannah
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
pregnancy-and-parenting
This book is great for helping new moms get the hang of latching and positioning. That's about it.
Most moms work and many of those moms work full-time, so having an entire chapter of a breastfeeding book devoted to advocating that women NOT work is unsupportive, misogynistic and completely out of sync with the reality of breastfeeding today. If the church ladies over at the La Leche League were really trying to support breastfeeding, they'd acknowledge that working moms are the majority and prov...more
Most moms work and many of those moms work full-time, so having an entire chapter of a breastfeeding book devoted to advocating that women NOT work is unsupportive, misogynistic and completely out of sync with the reality of breastfeeding today. If the church ladies over at the La Leche League were really trying to support breastfeeding, they'd acknowledge that working moms are the majority and prov...more
While this book contains some good information on breastfeeding, I found that, overall, it functioned more as an ideological manifesto than a how-to guide. The answers to most of my breastfeeding questions and problems had to be found elsewhere. (Primarily through friends and the excellent site, kellymom.com).
Worse, the book actually angered me at numerous points. It is judgmental and doesn't consider the realities of many women's lives. I know the La Leche League is beloved by breastfeeding wo...more
Worse, the book actually angered me at numerous points. It is judgmental and doesn't consider the realities of many women's lives. I know the La Leche League is beloved by breastfeeding wo...more
I wish I could have given this book a better review, but it has problems that many others have already pointed out, and one that nobody else has mentioned: Not everyone is able to breastfeed. Many women need to return to work immediately, particularly in our post-meltdown economy, and do not have supportive workplaces where pumping is possible. Some women have biological issues that prevent their children from breastfeeding, despite endless endless consultations with lactation experts, weeks on...more
If I could give half stars, this one would get 2.5. It did have some very good information that I will be using. However, it was almost overwhelmed by the obnoxious attitude taken by LLL towards breastfeeding.
Yes, I know this is a book advocating breastfeeding, but LLL, despite what they weakly disclaim in the beginning of the book, takes a pretty hardline "my way or the highway" approach to breastfeeding that is a huge turn-off. If anything, I think this book would make women feel inferior if...more
Yes, I know this is a book advocating breastfeeding, but LLL, despite what they weakly disclaim in the beginning of the book, takes a pretty hardline "my way or the highway" approach to breastfeeding that is a huge turn-off. If anything, I think this book would make women feel inferior if...more
Jul 09, 2009
Courtney
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Women who want to breastfeed (and maybe even those who think they don't!)
Recommended to Courtney by:
my doula
The notion that "breast is best" for the human child is rarely contested, and has even been promoted for decades now by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Therefore, most of the information in this book seems familiar or to some degree common sense, but reading it did give me a renewed commitment to make breastfeeding a priority with my own children. I also felt good enough about what I read to look up the local Le Leche League group meetings and plan to start attending this month...more
It's hard to rate this book because my baby hasn't arrived yet, so I'm not totally sure that I have learned the necessary tools (yet).
But - I did find this book REALLY helpful. Other books have chapters that touched on breastfeeding and often left me with tons of questions - this book answered them. It also has great suggestions for trouble-shooting any problems that may come up, which I appreciate. I'm keeping this book very handy for the first few weeks postpartum.
My one complaint is how preac...more
But - I did find this book REALLY helpful. Other books have chapters that touched on breastfeeding and often left me with tons of questions - this book answered them. It also has great suggestions for trouble-shooting any problems that may come up, which I appreciate. I'm keeping this book very handy for the first few weeks postpartum.
My one complaint is how preac...more
I committed to exclusively breast feed by daughter long before she was born. However, this book did not help that decision. Instead it made me feel like a terrible mother when things did not work as the book predicted.
This book would lead you to believe that as long as you do not have medical interventions then your child will be *perfect*. Everything from milk supply to problems with latch are blamed on epidurals. I had a completely natural childbirth. No interventions. My daughter was born wi...more
This book would lead you to believe that as long as you do not have medical interventions then your child will be *perfect*. Everything from milk supply to problems with latch are blamed on epidurals. I had a completely natural childbirth. No interventions. My daughter was born wi...more
La Leche League started out as a group that sought to support women who wanted to breastfeed, a progressive organization that wanted to give women choices. With the publication of this 7th Revised Edition of their handbook, however, it's become clear that they've turned into an organization intent on shaming mothers who don't breastfeed instead.
It was difficult for me to read this book because it's written like a religious tract. Breastfeeding = good behavior, and should you transgress, a) you'r...more
It was difficult for me to read this book because it's written like a religious tract. Breastfeeding = good behavior, and should you transgress, a) you'r...more
I liked the book and I found it helpful. I did read it cover to cover and my LO has not even arrived yet, I have also already been attending my local LLL meetings and trying to get comfortable with the wild world of breast feeding, so this probably colors my review somewhat.
There is a lot of great information in the book and I can see it being a tremendous reference for troubleshooting. I did not get the same anti-working mom vibe that others have cited...maybe I have a different edition? If yo...more
There is a lot of great information in the book and I can see it being a tremendous reference for troubleshooting. I did not get the same anti-working mom vibe that others have cited...maybe I have a different edition? If yo...more
This book advocates for FOD (Feeding on Demand) and talks a lot of shit about Kathleen Huggins' PDF (parent directed feeding) system. Hilariously, both methods actually are close to the same, once you get past the terminology. Too much of the book is spent attacking PDF (the breastfeeding philosophy, not the portable document format) and talking about how kick-ass FOD is.
I just noticed that I seem to be the only male who reviewed this book. Weird, huh?
I just noticed that I seem to be the only male who reviewed this book. Weird, huh?
This new edition is a big improvement over older ones I've seen, but I found some elements of it off-putting and suspected that they weren't well backed up by research. I can't be bothered to look up the exact sentence, but somewhere in the early chapters there was something to the effect of: "Any amount of formula is damaging." Really? How? Is one bottle of formula measurably detrimental? I find that hard to stomach. The emphasis on natural birth is ok, but the vast majority of women have some...more
Ok, the name is admittedly terrible, but put it in perspective: the first edition of this book was published in 1958. I actually found the history of La Leche League and breastfeeding in this country to be one of the most fascinating things in this book. That the mechanization of the 50s booted out a tradition otherwise in place for millions of years (well, ok, there've been class issues, involving wet nurses, etc. for longer than that, but still a relatively short time in the history of the hum...more
I'm sure this book is for someone. Someone who has a ton of time to read about the miracle of breastfeeding and how magical it is. That person would have to have tons of spare time (which a 38 week pregnant lady just doesn't have) to be enveloped in the cocoon of hippiedom that I got from this book. I want advice and help and instead I felt like the fact that I bought a breast pump means that my baby will never bond with me once he's here (just one example of the way I felt prematurely judged fo...more
I should come back and adapt my rating after I've actually tried breastfeeding, but based on my lack of experience but interest in preparing as much as possible, I thought this book was great. I know A LOT about breastfeeding now and feel ready to give it my best shot when the Little Bit makes an appearance. And if (when?) things don't go quite right, I know how to get help - starting with the seemingly exhaustive tips in this book. Only warning - when reading this book, be prepared to feel a li...more
Jun 22, 2009
Kylin Larsson
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
pregnancy-parenting
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is a combination of a how-to manual and a compilation of encouraging vignettes. It shows all the things that can prevent a woman from continuing to breastfeed and ways to work around such problems. It addresses the gamut of breastfeeding, touching on topics such as feeding twins, toddlers, and how to work and still breastfeed.
One of the most important aspects of the book is that it arms women with the information they need to stay confident about breastfeeding in...more
One of the most important aspects of the book is that it arms women with the information they need to stay confident about breastfeeding in...more
This is a book (with a hilarious title, by the way) about breastfeeding and nursing. And it provides a lot of good information about those two topics. Don’t read any of the sections about giving birth. But take this information with a hefty grain of salt. Who are the editors? There’s no information about their credentials. Are they nurses? Are they lactation consultants? All that I saw was that they’re moms. (blink) There’s also a heavy bias towards being a stay at home mom, because heaven forbi...more
Jun 12, 2013
Kimberly
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
pregnancy-birth-babies
I love this book. I learned SO much about breastfeeding, and found explanations to some of the reasons why I didn't last as long as I wanted with my first baby. Many of my problems with breastfeeding were emotional rather than physical obstacles. This book addressed nearly all of my concerns, and helped me find ways around the challenges I had faced the first time around. With my second baby, I went into it knowing exactly what I needed to do, and why, and armed with the confidence to do so. I l...more
This book was everything you ever want to know about breastfeeding and more. I would highly recommend it for anyone who has decided to breastfeed. However, if you are undecided I think that this is way to much information and there are better books out there to give a much simpler rationale for why you should choose to nurse your baby. I began reading this the week my first was born. I would sit down to feed him (about 20 times a day it seemed) and pick this up and read simultaneously. It was wo...more
Excellent tips and advice in here. I borrowed it from my chiropractor but will purchase the ebook for handy reference for after the baby is born. I'd recommend reading this before baby comes, so you get an idea of what could happen, what to expect, suggestions for how to approach breastfeeding, etc.
That said, La Leche League is great, but can also come off as over the top (for example: great chapter on pumping and also on going back to work, but also suggestions that maybe you just consider qui...more
That said, La Leche League is great, but can also come off as over the top (for example: great chapter on pumping and also on going back to work, but also suggestions that maybe you just consider qui...more
This book was inspiring at first, leading me to enjoy a day of "conversational nursing." But I'm quickly realizing that I'm not much of a crunchy mama. I found this book to be eventually frustrating. It does have good information in it, but it doesn't offer information about all scenarios. For example, for the topic of a baby sleeping through the night, it suggests that this would mostly occur as a result of sleep training, which it doesn't recommend because milk supply can go down, and more fre...more
I read this book because I was looking for some ideas and tips on latching, feeding, breast care etc. Instead I came away feeling challenged and bullied rather than supported and empowered. I found this book to be very preachy! I basically read it in one sitting because I was appalled by the ways the authors (whoever they are) describe the detrimental effects that childbirth interventions have on breast-feeding. In a nut shell, if you consider and/or have any sort of intervention during childbir...more
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La Leche League International is the most trusted name in breastfeeding information, support, and advocacy. Founded in 1956 by seven intrepid women, the League now has more than 7,000 accredited leaders in sixty-eight countries, and offers phone, online, and in-person consultation to breastfeeding mothers.
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