Babies, breastfeeding, and bonding

by Ina May Gaskin

From the Introduction by Ina May "This book represents an attempt to set down the essential lore which I consider to be vital to the practice and transmission of the skill of breastfeeding, the knowledge of which was lost to general public during the period of almost total bottle-feeding. My purpose is to empower women so that they have a real choice whether or not to breastfeed." --- In this book, Ina May Gaskin brings her holistic and inspirational perspective to every aspect of breastfeeding - from physical and emotional concerns to social and political issues. Combining her many years of experience as a midwife and mother with the intuitive wisdom of breastfeeding practices through the world, the author offers a wealth of practical information invaluable for beginning as well as experienced mothers and fathers.

Genres: Parenting

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Ina May Gaskin, MA, CPM, is founder and director of the Farm Midwifery Center, located near Summertown, Tennessee. Founded in 1971, by 1996, the Farm Midwifery Center had handled more than 2200 births, with remarkably good outcomes. Ms. Gaskin herself has attended more than 1200 births. She is author of Spiritual Midwifery, now in its fourth edition. For twenty-two years she published Birth Gazette, a quarterly covering health care, childbirth and midwifery issues. Her new book, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth was released 4 March 2003 by Bantam/Dell, a division of Random House. She has lectured all over the world at midwifery conferences and at medical schools, both to students and to faculty. She was President of Midwives' Alliance of North America from 1996 to 2002. In 1997, she received the ASPO/Lamaze Irwin Chabon Award and the Tennessee Perinatal Association Recognition Award. In 2003 she was chosen as Visiting Fellow of Morse College, Yale University.

Ms. Gaskin has lectured widely to midwives and physicians throughout the world. Her promotion of a low-intervention but extremely effective method for dealing with one of the most-feared birth complications, shoulder dystocia, has resulted in that method being adopted by a growing number of practitioners. The Gaskin maneuver is the first obstetrical procedure to be named for a midwife. Her statistics for breech deliveries and her teaching video on the subject have helped to spark a reappraisal of the policy of automatically performing cesarean section for all breech babies. As the occurrence of vaginal breech births has declined over the last 25 years, the knowledge and skill required for such births have come close to extinction.

Ms. Gaskin’s center is noted for its low rates of intervention, morbidity and mortality despite the inclusion of many vaginally delivered breeches, twin and grand multiparas. Their statistics were published in “The Safety of Home Birth: The Farm Study,” authored by A. Mark Durand, American Journal of Public Health, March, 1992, Vol. 82, 450-452. She was featured in Salon magazine’s feature “Brilliant Careers” in the June 1, 1999 edition.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

So interesting, so honest, so classic, and so convincing that I am almost a rabid breastfeeding mama now. The cultural shifts are interesting, Gaskin's style is endearing, and the bias, though obvious, is understandable. Good info and historically significant.

[Lisa]

very good

[Dreamersemporium]

very good