Breastfeeding: The Essential Guide

"This book is a must for all pregnant women - it is so informative & covers all aspects of breastfeeding as well as being very motivational.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this - the advice is really practical, its so easy to read, the photos are such a nice personal touch which all the other books I have read definitely lack, and you have total confidence in the advice that Sharon gives as she is not only a qualified midwife but also has many years first hand experience of breastfeeding all her own babies.

When I had my first baby I made the mistake of buying Gina Ford Contented Little Baby and Tracy Hogg The Baby Whisperer and spent far too many hours worrying about why my son would feed for so long (both advise 20mins each side) and why he couldn't stay awake for 2hrs at a time or wouldn't sleep through the night by 12 weeks etc...... Unfortunately I didn't enjoy breastfeeding my son as much as I should have, however second time around with my daughter, I read Sharon's book a couple of weeks before I gave birth and then refered to it a lot during the first couple of weeks once she was born and I'm so glad to say that I have really enjoyed breastfeeding this time and am still exclusively breastfeeding 6months on. This book (and Sharon's support) gave me the confidence to relax more and follow my baby's cues instead of clock watching and trying to make her conform to a schedule, and consequently she is a very happy and contented baby!"
~ Written on 2008-10-13

"I found this book really helpful during my early days of breast-feeding when I was struggling to make it work for me. However much I wanted it to, breastfeeding did not come easily to me and I found this book reassuring and helpful at a time I really needed support. The tone is easy-going and practical and reading it feels quite like having a chat with an experienced friend."
~ Written on 2008-04-02

"I bought this book recently for my daughter-in-law, who was learning to breastfeed her first baby. Sharon's book is an account of her journey through the years of breastfeeding her own family, and there is such a wealth of practical experience which just jumps off the page at you. It's a delight to read and, especially for all those new mums reading it, it must be rather like having Sharon there helping and guiding you along. It's a long time since I had my own children and I really wish there had been such a warm-hearted and informative book like this around then."
~ Written on 2008-03-30

"This book is a passionate and sincere plea for mothers to breastfeed and gives plenty of advice on addressing some of the common problems.

However, it fails badly on two counts.

First, the author asserts that newborns should "feed on demand" without giving a *maximum* time to allow between feeds. New babies can sleep for up to six hours, which is far too long to go without feeding and can cause dehydration very quickly - in these cases they have to be woken up to feed, not 'fed on demand'.

Secondly, the author fails to address the problem of mothers not having enough milk. In fact, she asserts, "Your breasts will provide exactly the right amount of milk." This is simply not true. Many women do not have enough milk, just as others overproduce, and believing that your baby 'must' be getting enough can lead to dangerously underfed babies. I breastfed exclusively, with plenty of help with positioning and following all the advice; my baby lost 15% of her birth weight in a week; we discovered that I was producing about a third of the milk she needed.

This is not a minor problem, or a particularly rare one. It is extremely distressing to the mother and risky for the baby (who will also cry non-stop with misery and hunger). And it goes almost completely unacknowledged in pro-breastfeeding literature, presumably because the breastfeeding advocates don't want to admit that Mother Nature is fallible. I would have had a great deal more respect for this pro-breastfeeding tract if it acknowledged the real problems women face, instead of demonising formula milk and suggesting that all the problems will go away if you simply persevere with breastfeeding.

If you have no trouble breastfeeding but want some moral support, this book would doubtless be fine. Otherwise, try 'What to expect when you're breastfeeding...and what if you can't' by Clare Byam-Cook, which has a realistic assessment of possible problems. "
~ Written on 2007-10-01

"This is a fantastic book on breastfeeding, which is very easy to read, and easy to refer to in those early days of breastfeeding, which is so important. When I had my baby I found myself frantically refering to lots of different leaflets for information, whereas this book answers all those questions and more. "
~ Written on 2007-09-25