Reviewed by Charlotte

Introduction:
Breastfeeding:
The essential guide. The book claims to be perfect for women thinking
about breastfeeding or interested in finding out more. It states it is
easy to read, non-judgmental and above all realistic.

Good points about the book/parts you found helpful:
Structure: Brilliant for a new mum as designed to be easy to dip in and out of.
Style: The style is very basic, sometimes too much so, but then again it would be easy for a tired new mum to read!
Content: Good range of topics covered

Bad points, inaccuracies:

At
times it touches on more than breastfeeding, yet paradoxically, on
occasion I felt the breastfeeding information could have been more
detailed. There are no pictures demonstrating the holds mentioned or
positioning and attachment, this does let’s the book down.

Comments and other opinions:
My
first opinions of the book were very positive. The cover is bright, eye
catching and cute and the book is slim which left me feeling hopeful
that I’d get to the “essential” nitty gritty of breastfeeding quickly
and easily. Flicking through, the format - very short paragraphs – was
almost like reading bullet points; this makes it very easy to read on
the go and doesn’t require huge chunks of attention for each section.

The
trouble is, I want to love this book more than I actually do. The book
does state on the back that it is a “personal view” of breastfeeding
but at times if I didn’t know if a new parent would wonder which bits
were fact and which opinion.

For example:

No
distinction is made between a newborn baby or, for example, a 12 month
old in relation to alcohol intake. No research is quoted therefore this
is “opinion” but could be misinterpreted as fact.

The
introduction and the first five chapters are, I think, excellent. There
are loads of breastfeeding facts and figures, health benefits and
information on nursing bras. Later chapters such as mastitis and nipple
soreness succeed in providing pertinent information in an easy to
digest format.

Other chapters are rather less impressive:

The thrush section states:

- this is simply not true! You may get pink spots, but you may not have that as a symptom, or indeed any symptoms at all!

The section on expressing states:

–
to a mum reading this book planning to use bottles or return to work
this comment could potentially be quite misleading and worrying. If
teats are introduced once breastfeeding is established, but whilst baby
is relatively young there is often no issue with refusal. In my
experience it tends to be older babies who express a preference!

Following
this comment the very next section was about returning to work. There
is no mention that freezing breast milk can destroy some nutrients
(although still massively superior to formula) and that breast milk can
be refrigerated for up to eight days. Instead all information is that
breast milk is to be frozen.

The next section is weaning and reads

–
I would argue juices are more than not necessary, that they are
potentially dangerous to a young baby (and it would be young babies
that could potentially be confused by a teat). I think there are
different issues for an older baby such, as filling up on juice instead
of breast milk and the fact that juice is often loaded with sugar.

The weaning section also states

–
yet milk is the most important nutrient for the first 12 months of life
and milk should come before solids not after. However I am unclear
exactly what “mixed feeding means” as the term to me has always implied
mixing milks. The author also states her children were exclusively
breastfed for four months, before discussing six months as the
recommended age of in another chapter (confusing for parents?)

The bed sharing section is also a little disappointing given that the book is a breastfeeding guide.

It would have been nice to see reference to the research demonstrating
a cot without sides or co-sleeping baby leads to baby and mother
mimicking movements etc plus the research regarding co sleeping and
breastfeeding success rates. After all it’s easier to roll over and
face your baby than it is to stand up, get the baby out of the cot etc
so am not sure the term “ideal” is entirely appropriate.

Would I recommend this book to a pregnant or breastfeeding mum?

As
it stands at the moment, no. I feel the parts of the book that let the
book down, for me outweigh the pro’s. As a new mum with no
breastfeeding experience/training I would probably have rated the book
higher due to its easy format and informative style. As someone who
likes to see facts stated as such and opinion clearly separated I found
parts potentially misleading and would want to take a marker pen to it
before lending it out.

It is a shame as potentially this book
could be brilliant. There is certainly a place in the market for this
style of book and with relatively few (but vital) changes it could be
an essential guide.

Charlotte Young