The Nursing Mother's Companion, 7th Edition, with New Illustrations: The Breastfeeding Book Mothers Trust, from Pregnancy Through Weaning

by Kathleen Huggins

â??Respected for over 30 years as the definitive guide, now more than ever, The Nursing Mother's Companion is the go-to guide every new mother should have at hand.

Breastfeeding is natural, but it is not always instinctive for either mothers or babies. The Nursing Mother's Companion has been among the best-selling books on breastfeeding for more than 30 years, with more than 1 million copies sold. It is respected and recommended by professionals, including The International Lactation Consultant Association, T. Berry Brazelton and The American Academy of Pediatrics, and is well loved by new parents for its encouraging and accessible style.

Kathleen Huggins equips breastfeeding mothers with all the information they need to overcome potential difficulties and nurse their babies successfully from the first week through the toddler years, or somewhere in between.

This fully updated and revised edition provides information on topics such as:


Benefits of breastfeeding
How to cope with breastfeeding obstacles and challenges
Incorporating a nursing routine into working life
Treating postpartum headaches and nausea
Nutritional supplements to alleviate postpartum depression
Sharing a bed with baby (co-sleeping) and the risk of SIDS
Introducing solid foods
Expressing, storing, and feeding breast milk
Reviews of breast pumps
You will also find Huggins's indispensable problem-solving "survival guides" set off by colored bands on the pages for quick reference, as well as appendices on determining baby's milk needs in the first six weeks and the safety of various drugs during breast-feeding.

Plus, this edition opens with a new Foreword by Jessica Martin-Weber, creator of the very popular website The Leaky Boob and a new Preface by Kelly Bonata, creator of the go-to site KellyMom. These two much-loved authorities speak to the importance of owning an authoritative breastfeeding book that cuts through the jumble of opinions, information and misinformation on the web.

Genres: Parenting, Childrens, Nonfiction

448 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2017

About the author

For more than twenty-five years, Kathleen Huggins, R.N., M.S., I.B.C.L.C., has dedicated her medical career to helping mothers care more effectively for their newborn babies. A registered nurse with an M.A. in perinatal care from the University of California at San Francisco, Huggins has spent the past two decades as a perinatal clinical specialist and board-certified lactation consultant at San Luis Obispo General Hospital in California. During this time she co-directed Breastfeeding Warmline, a telephone counseling service for nursing mothers. Huggins has also worked as a college instructor of fetal-newborn development, and has lead seminars on a variety of topics related to perinatal care and breastfeeding.

Huggins is owner of the maternity store Simply Mama. She is the author of several books on breastfeeding and has sold more than one million copies. She lives in California with her husband and youngest child.

Reviews

[Kat Harnisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the beginning of this book states, it’s a great resource for people that don’t have a support system for nursing (in the way of family or friends). Though I do have plenty of family that breastfeeds, the majority of them live thousands of miles away so I really feel on my own over here 😂

This book covered everything from newborn to 1+ year, and was very informative. It covered all sorts of things like types of feeding styles (breastfeeding, pumping, and supplementing with formula if needed), types of pumps and their advantages/disadvantages, how to navigate problems with nursing such as latch problems, supply problems, fussiness/colic, etc.

Though this is not a replacement for a lactation consultant, it has a great foundation of information for a nursing mother, particularly for first-time moms!

[Ashley Grant · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some great insights in this book, but it seems to stick to a rather wholistic mindset and made me feel guilty for even considering medical interventions or supplements such as an epidural or formula. Wholistic is wonderful, but I wanted to learn healthy nursing methods when I picked up this book, not read about The One Way.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to give this one star, but to be fair, there ended up being some information that is fairly helpful. The problem with this book is that it is cloaked in a straight-up propaganda, pseudo-science, pro-breastfeeding agenda. Your doctor gives you advice that isn't optimal for breastfeeding? Ignore it! Survivor of sexual assault and feel weird about breastfeeding? Get help, but get over it because breastfeeding is best for your baby. Feeling lonely as a working mother on maternity leave? Go to a La Leche League meeting (because obviously you want to meet with because on the basis of breastfeeding and nothing else). And on and on and on.

It's sad because I do think there was helpful information in this book. I knew nothing about breastfeeding and it is helpful to know just how much goes into it. I just could never really trust whether what I was hearing was accurate. The portion at the end about nutrition was surprisingly good.

I do not recommend this book.

[Mara Ihrcke · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a great deal of information that I found useful in this book. Granted, I am only six month pregnant, and haven’t had a chance to try breastfeeding. I like the recommendations and breastfeeding troubleshooting sections, where you can flip to the baby’s age and the issue you’re having, but I did find the author’s tone very preachy.

This is particularly an issue in the beginning, when she’s discussing natural childbirth. This did gradually get better as I progressed through the book. Overall, I’m glad I read it, but I would hesitate to read anything else she has written or to recommend it to a friend.

[Green Iona · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading a lot of this book I decided I just needed to own it for myself. It has so much information, and a great index for looking up the information later. There's a lot of helpful advice that not only has to do with breastfeeding but starts with childbirth-how childbirth affects breastfeeding. There are some recommended products in here that I took note of.

[Rocky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the right book for you if you are thinking about breast feeding.

[Kayla Heineman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Redundant and contradictive to itself.

[Sam Beckmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough and informative.

[Austin Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little aged. The information on breastfeeding was great but there was alot of extra stuff in the book that did not quite fit.

[Josie Wert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had found this book sooner in my nursing journey! The survival guides are so helpful and much better than Dr. Google.

[Anna Laytham · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing lactation resource that I will come back to.

[Sommer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book! Full of lots of detailed information about breastfeeding and I learned a lot that I did not know after reading Ina May Gaskins' "Guide To Breastfeeding".

There are a couple things I am not in support of, including: the author's recommendation of cows' milk consumption for human mothers and babies (cows' milk is for baby calves, not humans -- and is detrimental to human health). This in turn weakens the bones and contrary to popular believe it can actually lead to osteoporosis. Also the author mentions that a vegan diet is acceptable if one seeks a nutritionist's advice, however that is not necessary. All diets can be deficient in nutrients, especially omnivorous diets--please see the link below from Dr. Michael Greger. Please see the stance of the American Dietetics Association: "It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes." I do agree that if you want to eat a vegan diet, you need to do your research, but it seemed more like the author was doubting/shaming the vegan diet rather than promoting it.


References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed...

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/omni...

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-m...

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wish my library had added this to their collection before June. I liked it quite a bit more than The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, it was more modern and a lot more inclusive. I did skim/skip the sections meant for pregnancy and birth since I kind of been there done that. However there wasn't the kind of medication/C-section shaming in WAoB. The sections on pumping were extensive and detailed and I'd highly recommend the book for moms who are exclusively pumping or pumping a lot.

One criticism​ is a lack of information on oversupply/overactive letdown issues, there were some short sections but this seems to hold true throughout every breastfeeding resource I've looked through. Another is there were lots of mentions of pumping shields being too small and not one of them being too big or how to deal with small nipples. I suppose they get lumped in to flat/inverted nipple discussions.