Book review: The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is full of helpful information and real mothers’ stories. When I started breastfeeding for the first time I carried this book around with me like a toddler carries a blanky!

This is a good book to read if you have already decided that you want to breastfeed, or if you are in the thick of it now. I love the quotes from moms and dads from all over the world telling about their experiences. I remember sitting on my couch and reading one mother's quote about how breastfeeding is a "bodily pleasure," and it's one that no one talks about. It was in that moment that I finally let go of a lot of tension that I had around how to breastfeed, and what was right and wrong. I started to enjoy it because hey, if that lady could enjoy it then so could I.

Other useful chapters include information about pumping, growth spurts, what is actually in breastmilk, and what to expect at different ages.

I say that what makes this book super special, however, is that there’s a huge focus on the mother. Okay, yes, your baby should be growing this much and teething and sleep and regressions and so forth.. but what about moms and dads? This book addresses what parents may be feeling, too. It really helped me to feel not so alone in this journey. That there are nursing women all over the world looking out their window and feeling the same as me.