Suzanne Arms - Bestfeeding: How to Breastfeed Your Baby

Copyright 1990, 2000, 2004 by Mary Renfrew, Chloe Fisher, and Suzanne Arms

Photography 1990, 2000, 2004 by Suzanne Arms

Drawings 1990, 2000, 2004 by Maggie Conroy from photographs by Suzanne Arms

Storyboard 1990, 2000, 2004 by Mary Renfrew, Chloe Fisher, Suzanne Arms, and Maggie Conroy

Cover photo Suzanne Arms

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Celestial Arts, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Celestial Arts and the Celestial Arts colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in slightly different form in 1990, 2000.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the publisher.

eISBN: 978-0-307-81871-3

Design by Catherine Jacobes Design

v3.1

This book is dedicated to all women
who have had problems with breastfeeding
to those who struggled on despite difficulties,
and to those who gave up breastfeeding
before they wanted to.

It is also dedicated with affection
and respect to
Dr. Mavis Gunther,
whose work started us on the right road.

Like breastfeeding itself, this book needed support, and it benefited from the wisdom and guidance of skilled helpers. We were privileged to have the help of many people throughout the world in its preparation. The information we offer is based on clinical and personal experience, as well as a great deal of research. We are especially indebted to the work of Kathy Auerbach, Maureen Minchin, and Mike Woolridge, whose understanding of breastfeeding and creativity in the field has contributed much to this book.

Most of what we have learned about breastfeeding has come from mothers, from fathers, and from babies. We want to acknowledge all the families we have worked with through the years. Our special thanks go to the women and families who allowed us to photograph them for this book: Sparrow Baranyai and Gary Blackburn, Martha Lopez-Chubb, Jackie and Larry Foreman, Christine Hunner, Judith Landy, Jenchyn and Raymond Luh, Lorri and Diego Roa, Lawan Jackson, Ann Marie Joyce, and Lesley Searle.

Many people read and commented on the text and in so doing made it better; we sincerely thank Kathy Auerbach, David Baum, Maggie Conroy, Donna Cowan, Susan Currie, Jo Garcia, Faye Gibson, Lynne Gleason, Karyn Kaufman, Brian McClelland, Kathy Michaelson, Maureen Minchin, Jane Morton, Gay Palmer, Harriet Palmer, and Mike Wooldridge. Thank you, Barbara Henry and Shirley Anne Seel, for help with the resources section. Special thanks to Maria Tiscareo for the Spanish translation of concepts in the storyboard.

Thank you to the late and much loved editor David Hinds of Celestial Arts. Thank you also to the Department of Health, England, which supported Mary Renfrew during the writing of this book, and to everyone at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at Oxford for their understanding and practical support.

We have had lots of personal support as well from our family and friends. All of them believed in and encouraged us, even when our work on this book got in the way of time they wanted to spend with us. A special thanks, John Wimberley, for allowing us to take over your home while we wrote, held meetings, and conducted interviews with breastfeeding mothers. Thanks for cups of tea and hugs, for making us laugh, and for giving us the brilliant title for this book. Our own mothers were all strong women who wanted to breastfeed their babies but lived during times when breastfeeding was difficult. We are grateful for their perseverance in trying to do what was best for their children, and for their strong influence on our lives.

More than anything, the joy of this book for us has been our collaboration with each other. Our different backgrounds, experiences, and ages have made our work together special, and we have learned a great deal from each other. For all of this we are most grateful.

Revising this book to produce the second edition has been a process of several years. Many of the changes in the book reflect the changes in our own lives over the years. Mary has had two children, Jamie and Calum, who have taught her more about birth, breastfeeding, and parenting than anyone else ever could. They also brought Chloe some new challengesshe supported Mary with her breastfeedingas they presented some new situations which Chloe had not encountered before. Thank you, boys, for bringing us joy, making us question what we thought we knew, and never letting us become complacent.

Chloe has retired, but continues to work with women almost every day. Thanks to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, where Chloe still runs her breastfeeding clinic with her colleague, Sally Inch.

Suzanne has moved to live in Colorado, where she works closely with her husband, Root Routledge. Thanks to him and to the staff with whom they work, for their love and support.

Several people have helped in the practical process of producing this new book. Phil Minchin helped to update the resource section. Helen Bridges worked tirelessly on the manuscript. Marys colleagues at the Mother and Infant Research Unit in the University of Leeds were a constant source of support, and the University of Leeds supported her while she was working on this new edition. Our colleagues and friends corrected our errors and making it a better book, thanks to Jim Akre, Caroline Harris, and Randa Saadeh.

We are delighted to be able to produce this third edition. We have found over the years that this book is very special for women; the letters and feedback we still get make that very clear. We are grateful to the women who have taken the time to tell us what they liked about the book, and to point out ways in which it could be better.

Mary still works in the Mother and Infant Research Unit in the University of Leeds. She owes much to the ongoing support of her colleagues there. Thanks, too, to her sons, Jamie and Calum, who are growing fast and continue to offer lessons in life, and to Mike, her partner.

In spite of having been retired for seven years, Chloe still works a couple of days a week with mothers and babies in the breastfeeding clinic in the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Womens Centre with Sally Inch. Sallys clinical expertise reinforces Chloes skills and knowledge. Her enthusiasm and support are hugely important to Chloe.

Suzanne is now a grandmother, living in southwestern Colorado with her daughter Molly and grandson Kinjah. Molly, who grew up around breastfeeding has always considered it the only way to feed a baby.

This edition owes much to the enthusiasm, encouragement and hard work of the team at Celestial Arts/Ten Speed Press. We are indebted to Jo Ann Deck, Kirsty Melville, Windy Ferges, Lily Binns, Lorena Jones, Annie Nelson, Mary Ann Anderson, Chloe Rawlins, Toni Tajima, and Catherine Jacobes.

Breastfeeding is by far the best way to feed a baby. Most women know this. But breastfeeding is not always easy for women who live in societies where it is hidden or where the exposed breast is considered vulgar, and we dont get a chance to learn how to do it. Some women find that breastfeeding is easy and satisfying, right from the start. But many women in industrialized countries find it difficult to succeed without help. And it can be hard to find the right help. It is important to understand that knowing how to breastfeed is not something you are born with; it is something you learn. And even though babies are born knowing how to do their part, they need your help.