Coach Smith here.

 

Lactation textbooks are written by people. Ordinary people who agreed to
commit their work to paper and who put their socks on one at a time. Like
me. 

 

When I'm writing or revising a book or chapter, I spend many hours finding,
reading, highlighting and referencing original research, often
cross-referencing bits of information to find themes or central principles.
I spend even more hours looking through other published books to see what
others have written. All authors base their books & chapters on their own
experiences, and every author has her or his own biases. for better or
worse. That's one reason why no two books on almost ANY subject (especially
in lactation) will be exactly the same. Marsha Walker, Marie Biancuzzo, Jan
Riordan and Karin Cadwell are all experienced nurses, clinicians and
writers, and yet their books are quite different from one another. (All are
good resources, IMHO). Although textbooks are peer-reviewed before
publication, older ideas and concepts, regional practices, maybe even errors
can slip through even after the most thorough review. 

 

Breastfeeding information changes quickly and often profoundly because of
the rapid increase in research in the past few years. In 5 years, at least
40% of the information in any given text on breastfeeding will have changed
substantially, and some percent of the "old" info will have been rendered
obsolete by newer research.  (I've observed this even in books and chapters
that I wrote and considered state-of-the-art when finished!)  Older texts
almost certainly contain some outdated information. Most publishers follow a
5-year revision cycle for major texts. Production time - from when the
author submits the manuscript to a finished book ready for purchase - is
about 6 months. 

 

Disclaimer: I am the author of 4 BF texts and receive royalties from their
sales. 

 

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC

Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre Ltd.

6540 Cedarview Ct, Dayton OH 45459 USA

(937) 438-9458 / fax (937) 438-3229

 <http://www.BFLRC.com> www.BFLRC.com

 


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