I was genuinely delighted to be given the opportunity by Pinter & Martin to review one of their recent publications ‘Breastfeeding Made Easy’ by Carlos Gonzalez.  To be honest I’m not really one for ‘parenting’ type books, I’m more of a trust your instincts kind of Mother.  I was happy to give this book a try though as I’ve had such different breastfeeding experiences I wondered if reading this book before my third baby arrived would be helpful.

 

I was sceptical at first as it is written by a male doctor, and it seemed to start off a little dry for my liking but I was pleasantly surprised as I got further into it.  Don’t let the facts and figures put you off as he includes these to arm Mothers with accurate advice.

 

Breastfeeding Made Easy

 

Gonzalez has a real understanding of the subject of breastfeeding and the myths that surround it.  I love his quote in the book, ‘ignorance breeds bold assertions’ which sums up a lot of the advice and beliefs that fly around about breastfeeding that have no substance or scientific evidence whatsoever.  It was a book that I felt sat well with my own approach to parenting and breastfeeding, the more that I read.

 

Even though I am now breastfeeding my third baby, this book has helped me tremendously.  Things didn’t go quite so well in my second breastfeeding relationship and I hoped the book would help me understand why so it didn’t go quite so wrong third time round.

 

t really helped me to understand the true nature of ‘breastfeeding on demand’ and why so many struggle with it in modern day life, how to get off to the best start with feeding a newborn baby and how successful breastfeeding can be despite facing challenges like inverted nipples or breast surgery etc.

 

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It was useful to learn from the book how society has ended up where it is today around advice for breastfeeding Mums, with regimes like only feed every 3 hours and how Doctors have interfered with the natural breastfeeding process by separating Mum and Baby after labour or having babies in the hospital nursery so Mum can rest, and the problems this can lead too.  Fortunately these practises aren’t wide spread today but it’s still worth being aware of them.  I recently heard a Mother say she thought she wasn’t producing enough milk to feed her baby every 3 hours.  She had used formula milk out of desperation by the end of the first week.

 

Gonzalez provides a great deal of useful information that is relevant to any breastfeeding Mum, and he also provides a significant number of scientific references so that if you are in a dispute with a Health Care professional you can draw on the relevant papers to further your argument.

 

He makes references to Spanish Culture and maternity provision, which are different to the UK but there are definitely parallels to be drawn.  He covers many relevant topics like diet, weaning, illness, medications making this a great reference book and not just a one off read.  It’s definitely a book I will be coming back to for advice.

 

If I had to make one criticism it would be the title itself.  Breastfeeding can be hard, very hard indeed in the early weeks.  It does get easier and being informed does help.  I think I might have gone for something like ‘Understanding Breastfeeding’, but then I’m not a publicist!

 

I was provided with a copy of ‘Breastfeeding Made Easy’, by Pinter and Martin for the purposes of providing this review.  The book is currently available for £9.59 from their website which I feel is excellent value for what you will gain from it.  I would thoroughly recommend this book to any Mum who is considering breastfeeding, whether it’s their first baby or not.  If you have had a difficult experience this book may help you understand why and could help you if you want to try breastfeeding again if you have more children.

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20 COMMENTS

  1. Sounds like it has lots of useful imformation in it. I can’t understand where mothers get this notion that babies can only fed every 3-4 hours or that you have to know how much they have had. When my son was newborn I was feeding him every hour! As you say it would probably be better if the book was titled a bit better.

  2. I always think these books are unecessary until things go wrong!! Having had it go wrong though I would have loved something like this as I tried to work out what was going on!!

  3. I could have done with a book like this when I was struggling with breast feeding issues. I love that there is a cultural comparison with Spanish culture. X

  4. I love Carlos Gonzalez. I reviewed this book too and his book My Child Won’t Eat helped save my sanity some time last year. He has such a heart for mothers and children. His vision of a world where breastfeeding truly is normal and easy is beautiful.

  5. Sounds like a really good book! I was lucky and didn’t have, too many, issues with breastfeeding. And I had a lot of support from my mom and sister.

  6. Like GlobalMouse above I would only turn to a book like this if I was having problems. Saying that, sometimes you need some reassurance and support for a neutral source when health visitors and mother-in-laws seem to know all the answers…

  7. I have to admit I am extremely sceptical about using any sort of parenting guides, especially one written by a male who does and can’t possibly ever have the physical experience of breastfeeding. However, if it helps someone who may not have breastfed or gave up otherwise, then it can only be a good thing.

  8. Like GlobalMouse above I would only turn to a book like this if I was having problems. Saying that, sometimes you need some reassurance and support from a neutral source when health visitors and mother-in-laws seem to know all the answers…

  9. It’s good to know that you found the book useful. I think the most important thing is that you feel supported and that perhaps it doesn’t matter so much whether that support comes from friends, family, healthcare professionals or a book.

  10. sounds like an interesting book and anything that can help a new mum feel more confident is worth the read.

  11. Sounds like an interesting book – might have helped quite a lot in the early days with Sophie when I was expecting things to be ‘easy’ after having breastfed before – was quite a shock when it was such a struggle initially.

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