Cathy Bargar wrote:

>
> I've noticed a couple of references to "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding"
> lately. I have to say that I personally found that book to be utterly
> devastating to me, when I was a new first-time mother (lo, these 21+ years
> ago now!). (snip)
>
> Older and wiser now, and it turned out that I was in fact a really great
> mother (though BFing my first baby never was anything like they described in
> that book), but I still don't like that book. It's tone is kind of cloying,
> or cutesy, and it doesn't match the reality of a lot of the women I've
> worked with.

My sister's child was born in 1974, and when I was pregnant in 1989, my sister
sent me her copy of "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding." My impression was pretty
much the same as yours, Cathy. But then I learned it had been revised, and
checked out the newest edition-- what a difference! It is now in its sixth
revision as of July 1997. There is now a lot more meat to back up the sweet, and
it does address many challenges and "special" situations. "Real life" bits of
wisdom from mothers are interspersed with the sound information, common sense
tips  and gentle encouragement unique to LLL. I would not recommend the OLD
Womanly Art, but I certainly do recommend the newer one.
Joanne Hamilton
Foley, AL
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