Happy New Year!!!

The following is a copy of the letter I have recently written to Peggy
Robin, the author of _Bottlefeeding Without Guilt_.  I chose to focus
more on my personal reaction to her book and to leave it to greater
lights than myself in the field of lactation to take her to task on more
technical issues.  If I hear back from her, I'll let you all see her
response.

<snip addresses>

Dear Ms. Robin:

     I am writing to express my disappointment with your recent book,
_Bottlefeeding Without Guilt_.  While I suspect that a book detailing
accurate information on methods of and aids to bottlefeeding would be
useful for many people, I fail to see how the anti-breastfeeding bias in
your book serves any reader.  As a nursing mother and lay breastfeeding
counselor I was dismayed at the many inaccuracies in your presentation of
information on breastfeeding and I suspect that many women would take
from your book a picture of breastfeeding as unpleasant, fraught with
difficulty, and burdensome.  Needless to say, that has not been my
personal experience.  Your portrayal of breastfeeding is at least as
unrealistic as any glowing portrayal I have read, and is far less
scientific in its assessment of the documented health benefits of
breastfeeding.

     However, my main source of personal frustration with your book is at
being labeled a "cult member," and having many of my most closely held
beliefs publicly stereotyped and derided.  I fail to see how insulting
me, and others who subscribe to what is often referred to as an
attachment/continuum parenting philosophy, furthers the cause of reducing
bottlefeeding mothers' guilt.  Let me add that I have *never* accosted
any woman to challenge her feeding method, and, as a breastfeeding
counselor, I work hard to convey the message that each mother is the
expert on her own family's needs and to meet that mother where *she* is
at in her parenting philosophy.  Therefore I feel quite angry at being
treated with the disrespect that I am unfairly accused of meting out to
bottlefeeding women.  I strongly suggest that in future editions of your
book you eliminate Chapter 3 and the maligning spirit therein.

     Let me conclude by reiterating that, while bottlefeeding mothers may
well be in need of information and support, this need not come at the
expense of breastfeeding mothers.  Nor should mothers necessarily feel
guilty about their decision.  <snip quote from page 95 of _Mothering
Your Nursing Toddler_ "It seems to me that the mother. . .rightly so.">
Women who feel confident that their parenting decisions are the ones
necessary for their families need not feel guilty; nor should they feel
called upon to defend their decisions in the face of others who have made
different decisions.  However, women can only make confident choices when
they are given accurate information and freedom from fear of judgment.
Your book, sadly, seeks to deny them both.

Respectfully yours,
Penny Piercy


Penny Piercy, LLLL, MOM (Patrick 2 3/4) from Bloomington, IN