Thursday, May 17, 2012

Book Announcement: The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

A Book You Can Buy From Me

Book Title: The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

Author: La Leche League

Author's web site: www.llli.org

Date: 1958, 1991

Publisher: Penguin

Length: 435 pages plus index

ISBN: 0452266238

Illustrations: black and white photos

Quote: "The seven founders of La Leche League, all busy mothers, never thought about the organization growing, but it did."

As of 1991 the organization claimed 40,000 members. The surprise, as one Amazon commenter says, is that even the fifth edition didn't work for everyone who's tried using it. More remains to be learned about the amazing human body. The consensus of forty thousand women's success still didn't add up to the perfect book for every breastfeeding mother.

I'm not and have never been a biological mother. My mother was one of the pioneers of the organization, but she lost her worn-out copy of the first edition years ago. Why did I ever buy this book? Because one thing I'd learned, not even from reading the first edition but from hearing Mother coach other mothers, is that women who are not biological mothers can nurse babies. When we were about forty, a friend's baby seemed to be in need. Fortunately the baby's mother was able to use the advice in this book as well as I was, and the baby survived without actually having to live on donor milk. But I can say that the advice worked. (I can also say that inducing lactation on behalf of an infant who turns out not even to need it is enough of a nuisance to prove friendship with the family, and the child should be trained to call you "Aunt" for the rest of your mutual lives.)

What else is there to say about this book? It's a reference book. One doesn't review it; one announces that one has it. Right. I have the fifth edition, well worn; you can find better prices on Amazon but if you buy it from me, $5 for the book, $5 for shipping, you're donating a dollar to La Leche League, which is more than the other online suppliers can say. Newer editions, reflecting the input of the women who weren't able to use this book, are also available. E-mail salolianigodagewi@yahoo.com to check on prices for those too.

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