Dr. Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Victoria, B.C.

Dr. Jack Newman is a pediatrician who has run a number of breastfeeding
clinics in the Toronto area since 1984. Coauthor Teresa Pitman has
written numerous articles and books on parenting topics. Both authors
have personal (albeit very different) experience, in raising breastfed
children.

Three main sections cover the breastfeeding experience: advocacy for
breastfeeding, common problems and solutions, and the mother–baby
breastfeeding relationship. The first section provides a good overview
of how the medical profession, industry, and society contributed to the
decline of breastfeeding. The main section of the book provides detailed
discussion on such topics as milk supply, sore nipples, jaundice, colic,
medications and breastfeeding, sick babies, premature babies, and
special situations such as adoption and breast surgeries. The final
section discusses such topics as sleep for baby, mother and family
members, mother–baby separation, and breastfeeding a toddler.

Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding is a reference book, not a
self-help manual. There are some black-and-white photographs, but the
details of such topics as proper nipple latches are difficult to discern
(diagrams would have been more helpful). The strength of the book lies
in the authors’ straightforward debunking of myths about
breastfeeding, and in their promotion of breastfeeding not as an option
but as a birthright to starting a healthy life.