the womanly art of breastfeeding la leche league

The scant number of pages dedicated to working mothers who pump was filled with guilt trips and some actually erroneous information (not sure if that's because it's from 2004 or not). I honestly found it almost unbearable to read. 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 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). Hey, Dad! Did you know you can take care of your baby, too? Yes, you too can participate in baby care by making your breastfeeding wife a sandwich while she breastfeeds. Good for you if you want to and can afford to stay home, but since it takes way more dedication to nursing to hook yourself up to a pump every two hours (and then wash your pump parts and bottles etc) than it does to just lift up your shirt and nurse, working moms should be acknowledged as the breastfeeding rock stars we are.Īlso, the chapter on fathering is beyond offensive. Applauding stay-at-home moms for their dedication to breastfeeding and guilt-tripping working moms is totally backward. 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 provide better guidance on working while breastfeeding.

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. This book is great for helping new moms get the hang of latching and positioning.

The womanly art of breastfeeding la leche league