The discussion of “The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding” and how it is perceived
in such a variety of ways by mothers and health professionals has been truly
enlightening for this LLL Leader.
        My first encounter with the WAB occurred in 1976 during my first pregnancy
when I resolved to breastfeed and breastfeed exclusively. No one in my family
or among my friends had breastfed past the first few weeks, nor did they
consider it a viable alternative. The only information I could find was an old
copy of the little blue 1958 edition of the WAB., and I had to dig through a
box of dusty old volumes at the health clinic to find even that.
        I devoured every word of that book.  True, I thought some of the mothering
philosophy was a little bit nutty. And where did they come up with that title?
Didn't these women know we were living in the 20th century? But with that book
to tell me I could breastfeed and tell me how, I breastfed my first baby, and
then I breastfed my second. Eventually, I read Karen Pryor’s “Nursing Your
Baby,” and was pleased to have another reliable source of information. But
that’s what it was--a source of information. It would never be the WAB.
        You can imagine my excitement when in 1981, a new edition of The Womanly Art
appeared. But before I’d finished reading the first chapter, I was SO
disappointed. True, it was remarkably professional, a treasure trove of the
latest information, the most up-to-date research and recommendations. But
where were the wonderful anecdotes, the gentle, love-filled mothering stories
which had inspired me to realize my dream and sustained me through long, scary
nights of colic?
        Through the passing years five babies have snuggled at my breast and wriggled
away to conquer the world. Now, when a mother calls with a breastfeeding
question, I am likely to reach for the “Breastfeeding Answer Book“  or “A
Practical Guide to Breastfeeding.” I may suggest "Bestfeeding" or
"Breastfeeding Pure and Simple" or the latest edition of "Nursing Your Baby."
And, yes, I still use the WAB (6th edition), too, and it is still packed with
topnotch information and still grounded in the philosophy of mothering which
has nourished and nurtured 40 years of babies. Of course, it doesn’t always
have the answers mothers need. No book does.
        But sometimes, after a long day of poor latch, pumps, tight frenula  and
intractable yeast, while I wait for a tardy teenager to come safely home, I
reach for my little old blue copy of “The Womanly Art,” and revel in the
mother I once was and always will be.
        Yes, there are different books for different mothers and there are different
books for the same mother at different times. No book speaks to the reality of
every mother. Perhaps no breastfeeding professional or support person speaks
to the reality of every mother either. But there will always be a place in
this mother’s heart for the WAB.

Donna Cookson Martin, BA, BEd, Grad Dip,
an isolated LLL Leader in ice and snow-choked Alberta, Canada