
The Positive Breastfeeding Book: Everything you need to feed your baby with confidence
'With its combination of straight talking, science-based information and reassuring advice from fellow mums and experts, the invaluable Positive Breastfeeding Book empowers new mums.' Mother & Baby
'I wish I'd had this splendid book a few months ago: warm, funny & accurate. For anyone who is making a choice about feeding or in the midst of it this will feel like a hug.’ Chris van Tulleken
'A fantastic manual for new motherhood.' Saffia Farr, editor Juno magazine
'This book is the village of support and knowledge that all new parents need, but can be so difficult to find in our modern world.’ Dr Natalie Shenker, cofounder, Hearts Milk Bank and Human Milk Foundation
'The beauty of this book is not only its accessibility but that it is informed by strong evidence and powerful voices of women.' Shereen Fisher, Chief Executive, Breastfeeding Network
How often does my baby really need to feed?
How do I know my baby is getting enough?
Is it normal for my baby to wake at night?
When you're expecting a new baby, suddenly everyone around you becomes an expert – particularly when it comes to how to feed them. It is easy to become overwhelmed by conflicting advice, myths and exaggerated stories. The Positive Breastfeeding Book cuts through the anecdotes, giving you clear, no-judgement, non-preachy, evidence-based information to help you make the right decisions for you and your baby. It will…
- help you understand how breastfeeding works
- give you tips for planning for your baby's arrival
- help you cope with those early months
- support you to make sure that whilst you're looking after the baby, you're getting taken care of too
- point you to how to seek help if challenges come up
- guide you through feeding in public, going back to work, and even rediscovering a glass of wine
You'll find plenty of real stories and guidance throughout from mothers and experts in supporting breastfeeding. There are handy chapters on formula and mixed feeding, which cut through advertising spiel and give you the facts you need to choose and use formula safely.
The Positive Breastfeeding Book doesn't promise to make it easy, nor will it get up in the middle of the night for you, but it will empower you with the knowledge and encouragement you need to feed your baby with confidence.
Reviews Hide Reviews
An essential for mums to be.
I can't stress this enough - this book is a must for mums to be. It cuts through the rubbish, discusses evidence based information to enable you to have a successful breastfeeding journey. It gives you the understanding of how bfing works, what things can make it go wrong, what things can resolve issues if you face them. Getting your ducks in order is so important, we learn about the what car seats to buy, what prams to get, what cots to get so as to make informed choices. Breastfeeding is the same, we need to have a place to go to learn about bfing to make informed choices BEFORE birth. This book does all of these things, in a funny British way. It really is everything you need to feed your baby with confidence. Amy yet again has provided an AMAZING offering for mums!
Amazing!
This book is so clear and well written, easy to understand, and contains an absolute wealth of information, anecdotes and situational examples for readers to learn from and relate to. I’m a breastfeeding mum and a peer supporter and I’ve not just thoroughly enjoyed reading it myself, I'm also recommending it to everyone!!!
Everything you need to know
I bought this book when overdue as a distraction. I wasn’t really sure how I’d feed my baby but wanted to at least try to do a few days even if it was really difficult. My baby is now 7 weeks old and we’re still going and this book has been a big part of that as it helped me know what to expect. It has everything you need to think about and tells you things like how you know you’re baby is getting enough as that was what I was really worried about. It also told me useful things I didn’t realise like the law says your allowed to feed wherever you like which I didn’t know. Everything is broken down into sections which is great as you can just read the bit you need. I’m looking forward to the back to work and starting solids if they are anything as good as the others.
Wonderful, easy to read book that could benefit from some extra editing
I really enjoyed reading the Positive Breastfeeding Book. I had been looking forward to it, particularly because I found the Positive Birth Book to be an absolute gem, so I was hoping this would be similar. I didn’t see as much similarity between the two books as I had expected but I enjoyed reading them both nonetheless. The positive breastfeeding book covered really almost every breastfeeding related topic that I could think of. I was impressed by both the breadth and the depth of information, most of it evidence based and presented in a supportive and informative manner. I did question a few of the facts and wish that there were specific references provided for some of the specific facts, because I was not convinced that everything was factual correct. However, these queries were minor and the vast majority of the information was up-to-date and evidence based. It really was a comprehensive book, with the information presented in a non-judgemental way. I think the book really made an effort to meet families where they were and provide information and support, whilst then encouraging them to make their own decisions, that felt right to them. My only main concern with the book was that it felt like it could do with some editing. Nothing major, mainly a few potential factual inaccuracies plus quite a bit of text that could be improved by some judicious editing. It felt like the book was perhaps rushed through and that it could have been improved by a bit more attention to detail. However, despite this, I would recommend the book to anybody who was interested in learning about breastfeeding. The text is written in an easy to read manner, so I think it could appeal to a wide range of families and situations. It is organised into chapters and sections, so you could easily dip in to just the section that you need. However, I also really enjoyed reading it cover to cover.
Pulls no punches!
Amy Brown’s Positive Breastfeeding Book is presented as a companion to Milli Hill’s Positive Birth Book, sharing a cover design, a friendly, chatty tone, and an absolute compendium of information. 29 detailed chapters are interspersed with quotes from mothers and breastfeeding supporters, and interviews with some very respectable figures from the breastfeeding world, including Heather Trickey, Helen Ball, and everyone’s hero Dr Wendy Jones. This book pulls no punches when it comes to explaining the impact and the importance of breastfeeding, and breaking down the cultural and commercial barriers that women face in a breastfeeding-unfriendly society. It takes a logical journey through the subject matter, from getting off to a good start, accessing good support, facing and resolving the challenges, to stopping breastfeeding. My favourite section is the lovely list of suggestions for how partners can support breastfeeding women, not one of which is to give a night time bottle. The book also includes two chapters I have never before seen in a breastfeeding book: infant feeding in an emergency, and a chapter on induced lactation that specifically addresses the needs of trans parents. This feels like a book very much for our time. Technical information about breastfeeding is plentiful and accurate, supported by references and additional resources, such as videos to watch on hand expressing and the breastcrawl. At the end there is a chapter by chapter list of still more websites and books. The Positive Breastfeeding Book is exactly what it says on the cover, and a very useful manual both for breastfeeding mothers and anyone supporting them.