The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding Book

 

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding **

9th edition (2010)

by La Leche League International, 

Diane Wiessinger, Diana West, Teresa Pitman

Reference book

Without a doubt this book and every edition before it and those that are coming, would be considered the "bible of breastfeeding" for nursing mothers. 

The latest in the series, the 9th edition, starts of right by showcasing a woman with red hair nursing her baby, who also has red hair. 

Why is this cover so important? 

Because there is strange myth out there that says women with red hair can't nurse babies or will have more problems if they try and breastfeed. Also, strangely there is second myth that babies who have red hair can't nurse well or thrive on breastmilk. I was so happy when I saw this cover - I have shared it with many women over the years during our prenatal classes and with grandparents who have concerns.

La Leche League has been publishing their resource book that covers a wide variety of information, all completely citied and factual, for decades. This book is breastfeeding based, it goes into great detail about how to overcome virtually all breastfeeding issues and is focused on ensuring breastfeeding is always the best option throughout for babies. 

La Leche League is a peer support group for women who are breastfeeding or having breastfeeding issues. This group is the basis for the professional IBCLC designation that we know today. There are groups all around the world and meetings are free to attend.

You can find your local group from their main website https://llli.org/

It's true that you can look up something online and find a ton of information, but books like this one are vetted and use facts vs opinions or a post that is based on feelings and myths, or worse, seem like facts that can help but are actually commercials for products that often do not support breastfeeding.

I know when I was nursing, even though I didn't have a chance to attend meetings, this book was invaluable as I could ask someone to look something up quickly. I used a lot of sticky notes to mark the book pages, shared information with family and friends and eventually passed it along when I had weaned to a dear friend who was pregnant at the time.

There will be a new version in 2024 and from what we in the lactation world have heard will be significantly revised as a lot more studies have been published since 2010. I'm looking forward to see what's included.

Jacqui

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