The Whole Pregnancy Handbook: An Obstetrician's Guide To Integrating Conventional And Alternative Medicine Before, During, And After Pregnancy

Manufacturer: Gotham

At last, everything you need to know about the latest in alternative and conventional healthcare before, during, and after pregnancyâ€"in one comprehensive, jargon-free guide. Whether you embrace the philosophy that mind, body, and spirit work together to promote good health or you’re just looking for a way to have the healthiest, most comfortable pregnancy possible, The Whole Pregnancy Handbook has the information you need to make educated decisions and take charge of your prenatal care. The Whole Pregnancy Handbook features

* Complementary treatments and techniques to improve your pre-conception health and fertility, such as nutritional medicine, mind-body medicine, acupuncture and herbal medicine
* Comprehensive and compassionate information about genetic and prenatal testing
* Techniques such as massage, accupressure, herbal medicine, and mind-body exercises to help you relax and feel more comfortable as your pregnancy progresses
* A fully illustrated chapter on prenatal yoga with pose variations for all three trimesters.
* How your pregnancy unfolds month by month and how you can connect with your baby while you’re expecting
* The best practices of doulas and midwives
* The pros and cons of giving birth in a hospital, birthing center, or at home
* Effective pain management for your laborâ€"from epidurals to hypnotherapy
* Everything you need to know about inductions, assisted deliveries, and C- sections
* What happens postpartumâ€"physically and emotionally
* Candid recollections and insights from other moms and patient stories from Dr. Evans’s practice, The Center for Women’s Health

The Whole Pregnancy Handbook is an informative and reassuring guide that will empower you to combine the best of conventional and alternative medicine with confidence at every stage of pregnancy.

Customer Reviews

A Great Pregnancy Handbook, April 29, 2005
By E. Stern

I am currently pregnant with my second child and thought I did not need any more pregnancy books. However, I was recently browsing in a bookstore and came across the Whole Pregnancy Handbook and quickly found myself engrossed in its clear explanations of pregnancy and birth and the conventional and alternative approaches to both routine and more unusual pregnancy and birth situations. In the past, I have been put off by "over-zealous" pregnancy books so I loved the way that this book offers clear, non-alarmist and non-judgmental information on a wide range of ways to promote healthy pregnancy, babies and birth. The anecdotes from real women are particularly great--- they give you a sense of how many different women experience pregnancy and birth. I also loved the yoga section and the timeline that describes what is happening in the mother's body and in the fetus month-by-month throughout the pregnancy. I recommend this book highly for anyone who is looking for "one-stop shopping" that brings together a wide range of approaches to conception, pregnancy and birth that, until now, have been isolated from one another in "conventional" and "alternative" pregnancy books.



Wish I would have had this sooner, July 11, 2005
By A. M. Kreidle

As a mother of 2 little ones, I found this book right on target for my needs as an educated professional pregnant woman though I only wish I could have had it about 9 months ago! It provided me with just enough medical knowledge so that I could have had a professional conversation with my OB during my pregnancy. I also found it quite comprehensive about my choices of caring for myself and my baby.

I hope that the word gets out that this book is available.



Best pregnancy book ever, December 16, 2005
By April

Burning the evil "What to Expect when You're Expecting," I bought this book and I was amazed and how thorough this book was. It cover all the bases. All the natural remedies for common ailments, yoga poses, pregnancy diet, and everything you need to know. No scary stuff here. It's all straight forward and very comforting to read. If you want a pregnancy book, buy this book!



THE pregnancy book, January 3, 2007
By C. Woodruff

We've collected a shelf full of books during my wife's (first) pregnancy. While all serve a purpose, the Whole Pregnancy Handbook has become our go to book for just about everything. It's great information written in an easy to digest style that makes sense from a holistic and conventional medical point of view.



Great reference for my second time around, October 29, 2006
By M. Hopkins "readin' momma"

I checked this book out of the local library to look a up a couple of things before my first OB appointment. I had loaned out most of my own pregnancy library and just needed a little information. Any old pregnancy book would do, so my selection was kind of random. I ended up reading it almost cover to cover. Now that I have to return the library's copy I need to purchase my own.

I thought, in contradiction to the earlier reviewer's statements, that the book was highly detailed and very informative. What it lacked was the hysteria making format of other popular books on the subject. It was certainly organized differently so that might have thrown her off.

The information was well balanced and fairly comprehensive. I really enjoyed the section on nutrition and the chapter on prenatal yoga has certainly motivated me to find a class. What I liked most though was the reassurance that even at my advanced age (over 35) that I had a really good chance of having another healthy, uneventful pregnancy. Wonderful book!



This book is just what you'll need, July 8, 2005
By M. Ohlson

Excellent book outlining what to do to get pregnant, how to optimize the health of you and your baby during pregnancy, and what to do afterwards. Very thorough, personal and well presented.



High Quality Choice if interested in Alt Med AND mainstream ways, September 29, 2007
By Emma Lefkowitz "E. W. Lefkowitz"

I got this book a year ago -- I was lucky to be in a pretty progressive bookstore at the time that we decided to start 'trying', and the staff there said they'd heard good things about it. Without that rec, I doubt I would have bought it because it doesn't have that name-recognition or reputation. I'm so glad I did. All the basics of pregnancy are here, in the same depth as a book like Dr.Sears's, etc, but in addition you get really thorough explanation of alternative medicine applications. It's a perfect resource if you really try to straddle both worlds. So don't be put off just because you may not have heard of this book! It's excellent! It was my only pregnancy book all thruout and I never felt that I needed to look at anything else.



More Reviews >>>

Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey To Motherhood

Manufacturer: Da Capo Press

Both a celebration and a call to arms, this powerful book is the story of one human birth and the frightening ways we are now putting this miraculous process at risk.

A brilliant writer, first-time mother, and respected biologist, Sandra Steingraber tells the month-by-month story of her own pregnancy, weaving in the new knowledge of embryology, the intricate development of organs, the emerging architecture of the brain, and the transformation of the mother's body to nourish and protect the new life. At the same time, she shows all the hazards that we are now allowing to threaten each precious stage of development, including the breast-feeding relationship between mothers and their newborns. In the eyes of an ecologist, the mother's body is the first environment, the mediator between the toxins in our food, water, and air and her unborn child.

Never before has the metamorphosis of a few cells into a baby seemed so astonishingly vivid, and never before has the threat of environmental pollution to conception, pregnancy, and even to the safety of breast milk been revealed with such clarity and urgency. In Having Faith, poetry and science combine in a passionate call to action.

A Merloyd Lawrence Book

Customer Reviews

The top of the food chain, December 19, 2004
By Barbara Pearson

You don't have to be pregnant to read this book. Steingraber is a poet and a scientist, sometimes both at once. From the very first paragraph of the preface, her poet's eye pulls us into the "ecosystem of the mother's body," and we share her amazement that she had "become a habitat. [Her] womb was an inland ocean with a population of one." Before she finishes, she has also realized that contrary to received opinion, "man" is not the top of the food chain: the nursing baby is! There are many more pithy and poetic observations, but I won't give any more of them away as they are a large part of the book's power to enchant.

The science, especially the toxicology, is perhaps a little detailed for the expectant mother to assimilate in one reading, but one can always go back and take up one topic at a time, as Steingraber does in the course of the monthly chronology she follows. The early passages on the formation of the fetus are wonderful. The story of which cells start where and the landmarks of their migrations reads like a travel narrative. But then abruptly, S leaves behind the high art of embryology and her pregnancy "becomes empirical." Her toothbrush feels too big for her mouth, she is cranky, the bread of her sandwich is the wrong kind, and it's cut wrong. After some personal perspective on morning sickness, she once again adopts her scientist's perspective to investigate the causes of this nearly universal experience and why there is so little expert knowledge about it. We have soon learned more than we have ever heard about it before. In similar manner, alternately technical and lyrical, she covers both the science and personal experience of amniocentesis, congenital defects, fetal growth, prenatal education, birthing, and nursing-through to weaning. One can always find sources for the facts presented as well as avenues to find out more in the footnotes at the end of the book. At whatever speed one reads it, the book's message is very clear: the mother's body does a marvelous job of protecting the fetus from dangers that have existed on an evolutionary timescale, but there is now a new set of alarming environmental dangers that have intensified in the last several decades. Pregnant women must become aware of them and take steps to avoid the ones they can, and we all must work to change global policies that threaten us all.

My 30-something daughter, who gave me the book, was born during what Steingraber calls the "heyday of the [natural childbirth] movement"-after Grantley Dick-Read and then Marjorie Karmel had reintroduced women into their own birth experiences but before seemingly innocuous technologies sabotaged awake births once again. The books we loved then, Karen Pryor's Nursing Your Baby, Niles Newton's Family Book of Childcare, and Robert Bradley's Husband Coached Childbirth, to name a few, are not up-to-date enough and they do not address the new generation of dangers in pregnancy and birth. Steingraber is up-to-date, and she does address them. I repeat my recommendation to start Having Faith now and to read it often.



Beautiful and Necessary, August 4, 2002
By M. Dilg

Sandra Steingraber is my new heroine. Her writing is magnificent, and her concerns very much my own. She manages to explain the inexplicable (we are poisoning our babies, and don't stop even when we see the evidence) in a way that does not frighten as much as persuade. She indeed has faith, and I am so grateful to her for facing these fearful realities during her pregnancy -- as she points out, if pregnant women don't face these things, who will? Her refrain "We shall not abstain" -- asking why it is pregnant women who must restrict themselves, not producers of toxics -- is common-sense political brilliance and unmasks the hypocrisy of a society that pretends to protect the vulnerable with technological might, but is really not interested when facts run counter to the fantasy of omnipotence. Her writing is so vivid that I burst into tears at the end of her labor-and-delivery story, as I do at any filmed depiction of birth. Thank you, Sandra.I'm giving it to all my friends, and sending it to some politicians!



Top priority, November 5, 2003
By Joe D. Bryant

Sandra Steingraber, a trained scientist, tells the story of her pregnancy at age 38, weaving it into very readable science. She describes the day-to-day development of the fetus and how we KNOW at exactly what point birth defects are caused and, in many cases, which chemicals cause them. I was horrified to learn how many chemicals are being passed to our children through mothers' milk. And I can't stop telling my friends how the waters of the Arctic are the MOST polluted in the world, just the opposite of what you might think. This may be one of the most important books you will ever read. Like Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring", it should wake us up to the damage we are doing to our environment and to ourselves. The book is fascinating...and very, very scary. Every American, AND EVERY LEGISLATOR, should read it.



Should Be Required Reading, January 10, 2002
By "rclark135"

This book should be required reading for every parent, nursing mother, pregnant woman, or women even thinking about conceiving. I highly recommend this book (the author is a scientist, great writer, and new mother) because it helps articulate a problem that desperately needs solving--how chemical pollution impacts our children in utero, and as sucklings. It is beautifully written, and an incredible testament to the sanctify and bond of the nursing mother and child. Rather than shy away from the dispairing fact that breastmilk is contaminating our children, I say, give me the facts (which this book does) and lets change this!! I wrote letters to my senators the morning after I finished this book (this morning). And here I am writing a review at Amazon. Read it!



Like the jacket says - intimate and strong, April 26, 2005
By Sarah_Red "sarah_red"

Currently pregnant, I hesitated to read this book because I didn't want to become more paranoid than I already am about various environmental problems. I was impressed by both Steingraber's voice - the intimate telling of her own story is funny, telling, and compelling without any of the other details - and with the unremitting rigor with which she marshals her facts. Instead of being overwhelemed by information on one or the other side of various US environmental debates, I found that the author brings a very well-researched and sensible perspective to the conversation. Beautifully written as well as informative - well worth my time.



A Call to Arms, September 23, 2003
By "mooncalling"

This book is amazing, Ms Steingrabers style of writing - hard (and often frightening) facts interspersed with personal vignettes - makes it a pleasure to read. I couldn't put it down. As a childless woman I do wonder though, how a newly pregnant first time mother might react to such startling information; this is not a caution to avoid reading Ms Steingrabers book but rather a suggestion to read it well before conception or to allow time for the full impact of the book to be integrated (and perhaps the panic to recede). The truth would seem to be that there is no longer any clean air on this planet of ours and pollution of all kinds is a daily reality regardless of where in the world we live, breast fed human babies are at the top of the food chain therefore serious, long lasting action should be taken to protect our offspring from the concentrated amounts of toxins they can potentially receive inutero and postpartum - when you know what's going on, you can call for change. Happy reading.



So empowering, January 21, 2003
By Mrs Nicola Williams

I'm a breastfeeding counsellor here in the UK and do my best to keep up to date with research pertaining to anything to do with breastfeeding. This book, which I came upon purely by accident, opened my eyes to a whole new problem. I found the book so informing and so well written. I have a whole new avenue of personal research to investigate now and, I have information to share with parents who want it. I feel empowered because, as the last chapter offers, I have ideas now as to how I can play my part in making the world of breastfed babies, my own and others, a safer place to live. With grateful thanks to Sandra for opening my eyes.



More Reviews >>>

The Babycenter Essential Guide To Pregnancy And Birth: Expert Advice And Real-world Wisdom From The Top Pregnancy And Parenting Resource

ISBN13: 9781594862113 Condition: New Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed Manufacturer: Rodale Books

Millions of moms-to-be consult BabyCenter, the world's #1 pregnancy and parenting Web site, for the latest, most trustworthy advice. Now all that wisdom is gathered in one superlative guide.
Combining expert advice with real-world mom-to-mom wisdom, the people at BabyCenter have been communicating through the contemporary medium of the Internet with new and expectant moms--intimately, reassuringly, effectively--for more than 7 years. They have helped an estimated 15 million mothers negotiate the often strange and scary but always miraculous worlds of pregnancy and parenting. And now the editors have put together all of this accumulated knowledge, including brand-new information that is not on the Web site, in a book that will immediately be recognized as the standout in the field.

Here expectant moms will find:
o Insights into the amazing changes they experience
o Practical advice from leading pregnancy experts
o Hundreds of great tips from experienced moms
o Breathtakingly detailed fetal-development illustrations
o Answers to all questions they are too embarrassed to ask, don't think to ask, or don't know whom to ask

Featuring many of the popular elements that distinguish the BabyCenter Web site--such as Is It Safe? and Just for Dad, plus worksheets, charts, quizzes, checklists, and more--this superb guide will only solidify BabyCenter's reputation as the world's #1 resource on pregnancy and parenting.

Customer Reviews

EVERYTHING You wanted to know about pregnancy, June 24, 2005
By 1practicalgal

This book covers everything you could ever need to decide during your pregnancy. You can either read through week by week, or look for information on specific issues. There is a great reference section in the back of "is it safe" questions that help you know the risks of various foods and activities - now you don't have to wonder if sushi is safe, you can still color your hair, etc.

Other things I like:
* they have "babycenter buzz" with comments from real parents - they tell it like it really is. (even things you don't want to know)
* there is a lot of information for dads in this book. My dh and I can read the same information and decide on things together.
* cool pictures that show what your baby looks like during each month of growth and "revealing" pictures of a pregnant mom throughout her pregnancy - watch her grow with you.

Since i love the babycenter.com website and already get their weekly pregnancy newsletter, the quality of the book matched my expectations since everything they do is great. I like that I can take this with me and look things up easily without having to get on the computer all the time.



great book even for seasoned preggos!, September 7, 2005
By Momma Mimi

This is not my first pregnancy so I honestly felt that I knew it all and wouldn't benefit from a book about pregnancy--wrong! This is an informative and well-organized book that holds the interest of even this veteran preggo. I passed it along to one of my girlfriends who is pregnant with her first and she loves the book. It is a much better read than the old girlfriends guide or what to expect series--out with the old and in with the new!



Not just for Moms-to-Be, July 9, 2005
By G. Robb "gc_robb"

Even dads-to-be can get a lot out of this book! Very well written with great information that can be shared between mom and dad!

With everything from checklists of things to know to what is safe for mothers and forming children and what to ask the doctor this book is loaded with great information and insights into what is going on!

Make sure you visit babycenter.com as well to get the full experience of this one!



For the sake of your child, July 4, 2005
By F. Brown

As a huge fan of BabyCenter, I highly recommend this book. Many is the time that the editors at BabyCenter helped me and my wife as we struggled with new challenges in our baby's development. Their timely advice made two neurotic parents a little less so.



Easy to find Information, September 19, 2005
By Stephen Miroy "Wife of Stephen"

This is a great book for anyone who is pregnant or is planning to become pregnant. The information is up-to-date and easy to find in this large data jammed book. Even though my 'babies' are now teenagers, I still had questions about my pregnancies that had never been answered, but the answers were easy to find in this book. I had not had success in finding the answers before I read this guide. I wish this book had been around 17 years ago.



Very well organized and easy to read., August 13, 2005
By Rosie

Although I typically don't purchase many books, I bought this one used from Amazon.com because I couldn't find it at our library.

I've read numerous other books on pregnancy, and was starting to tire of the subject. However, I had a few outstanding questions that I noticed the description mentioned.

When the book arrived I knew I had made a good choice. It is extremely well-organized, so that you don't have to read the whole thing cover-to-cover, but rather can just check the index for whatever you're interested in (nausea, doulas, specific diagnostic tests, etc.) and flip go straight to your pages. I thought the info. on testing was particularly clear and straightforward.

The week-by-week information is the same as you will see on BabyCenter.com, but it is really helpful to have the additional information surrounding specific topics in book form.

This is a nice, easy to understand book to pass on to a friend once you are done with it (unless you can find it in YOUR library! :).



Practical advice - not scary stories, August 15, 2005
By B. Kim "koshkas"

I found myself skipping lots of the Everything to Expect book because it discusses lots of potential problems that, realistically, most women (including me) don't encounter. This book includes practical tips like using throwing up in the sink over the garbage disposal because it's easy to clean up and less unpleasant than the toilet.

The advice is quite practical since so much of it comes from real been-there-been-sick-with-that moms. The writing style and layout of the book are very accessible, even when you're tired and sick and your brain just isn't functioning all that well.



More Reviews >>>

The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide To Making More Milk: Foreword By Martha Sears, Rn (breastfeeding Mothers Guide)

ISBN13: 9780071598576 Condition: New Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed Manufacturer: Mcgraw-hill

Concerned about making enough milk for your baby? Wondering how to make more? Two lactation experts are here to help.

Separate fact from fiction with help from this comprehensive book about improving low milk supply. Written by two leading experts who have been there themselves and officially recommended by La Leche League International, The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk incorporates the latest research and discoveries about causes of low milk supply, the way your body makes milk, and how babies contribute to your milk production. Best of all, you'll find valuable suggestions for both time-honored and innovative ways to make more milk.

Learn the facts about:

• Determining if baby is really getting enough milk
• Supplementing without decreasing your supply
• Maximizing the amount of milk you can make
• Identifying the causes of your low supply
• Increasing your supply with the most effective methods, including pumping, herbs, medications, foods, and alternative therapies
• Making more milk when you return to work, exclusively pump, have a premie or multiples, relactate, or induce lactation

Customer Reviews

Must Have for Mothers with Low Supply and Lactation Experts, December 20, 2008
By Justthinkn "justthinkn"

The book has sections that would be wonderful for any expecting mother to read: understanding the biology of milk making, normal breastfeeding behaviors, best steps to get your supply off to a good start, and how to know if you should really be concerned about low supply - many mothers go through at least a moment or two of doubt! But for those of us currently in the trenches dealing with low supply or wondering how we can be more successful for the next baby, this book is just packed with information!

"While it's true that most mothers can make enough milk [to feed their babies], we are now learning that there are definitely mothers who really aren't making enough milk." For those of us who have been there and done that, this affirmation by experts in the field of lactation of the painful reality we have struggled with almost makes the book worth it all on its own. But of course, the authors offer much, much more in reassuring and informative discussions that fully explain what they call "The Milk Supply Equation" - the factors, from adequate breast tissue to effective and frequent milk removal, that work together to ensure a good milk supply.

I'm well-read, worked closely with a lactation consultant for months, and still learned one or two really helpful (and generally SIMPLIFYING, stress-reducing) things in each chapter. For instance, it explains how to supplement without damaging the supply you have, and perhaps even in such a way that it helps to increase it... But perhaps most importantly, the book will help you think through the underlying causes behind your supply issues and how to address them. Because without knowing the root of the problem, it's hard to direct interventions effectively...

As a concluding personal note, that's why I sound so gung-ho about this book... I would have given it a great review anyway, but I had a HUGE ah-ha moment reading through Ch. 8. I have insufficent glandular tissue, and had only ever heard about it in relation to hormonal causes. Yet I always felt like "hormonal imbalance" was a diagnosis that didn't fit me. Reading through Ch. 8 I learned that injuries to the breast during childhood and adolescence can also halt or impair breast development - and that fits me to a tee! So now I have confirmation that I need to focus on interventions to grow tissue, but really don't need to concern myself with the hormonal imbalance piece. I hope this book is just as helpful for many other women out there.



Wish I had gotten this at my baby shower! Extremely helpful advice, February 17, 2009
By Iliana

I used to think breastfeeding was a natural and simple process. Baby latches on, starts suckling and milk comes out. Pretty simple, right? Then I had my baby 2 months ago.

From day one my baby struggled to latch on, and when he did, it was terribly painful for me. To make matters worse, my milk supply was not enough to keep him full. To my disappointment, I had to supplement with formula (something I vowed not to do!) and, since my baby was not being breastfed enough, my milk supply finally decreased to zero.

In my desperation to find something that worked, I found this book. It would have been a life saver if only I had anticipated what possible -and very common- problems breastfeeding moms face. By the time I got and read this book, it was too late to rebuild my milk supply. But if you are expecting, or are currently breastfeeding, do yourself a favor - buy this book. It explains in very simple words how milk production works, what problems moms frequently have and how to fix them, and it even lists safe herbs and medications that promote milk production (or galactogogues).



Essential Read For Women With Supply Issues, March 10, 2009
By Monkee

This book is an excellent resource for anyone dealing with supply issues. It is very well-written and interesting; I had a hard time putting it down because I was learning so much.

I had supply issues from the start with my son. I saw (and stumped) numerous lactation consultants and tried everything (pumping, diet changes, Domperidone, etc. etc.) to figure out the cause of my low supply. Nothing helped, and repeatedly doctors told me the canned answer of "Give it up...some women just can't make enough."

When my son was 4 months old, I started seeing 2 lactation consultants who deal with tough cases, and we worked through this book. It was such a help and encouraged me greatly after repeatedly being told to give it up. It didn't talk down to me or treat me like I was defective, and it didn't give me simple answers like "just go pump some more." It instead walked through, in specific detail, causes of low supply.

One section discussed causes where the baby drives poor supply (e.g. bad latch, tongue-tie). The most helpful section for me, because there isn't a lot of this information available online, was the one that discussed causes where the mother drives low supply (e.g. hormonal issues, breast tissue issues, diet). Steps to rectify the problems were also discussed in detail.

Because of the book, we identified the areas that were causing the problems (the most notable being some unusual hormone issues with me, and a tongue-tie in the baby which 2 doctors had failed to diagnose). We are working through the solutions discussed in the book, and I now can take the steps to hopefully prevent the supply issues with future kids. It has been very rewarding to finally find the causes of my low supply, thanks to this book.



Wonderful resource, with information you won't find elsewhere, February 27, 2009
By Motherwear Blog

I really can't say enough good things about this book. It's clear, readable, and quite comprehensive. I was lucky enough to talk with both authors for podcast interviews on my breastfeeding blog.

There are a few features that I particularly want to highlight:

1) The authors write about maternal hormonal causes of low milk supply in more detail than I've seen in any other breastfeeding book for moms. There is also some hard-to-find information on some topics like gastric bypass, eating disorders, and vegan/vegetarian diets.

2) The chapter entitled "Planning for the future" is such a smart feature to include. So many mothers who have had difficulty with milk supply are very motivated to try again, and this chapter tackles the process of planning for a new baby straight on.

3) The authors take seriously the feelings mothers have when they have a problem with milk supply. They devote a chapter to "coping with milk supply," which I think mothers will find very helpful.



An absolute must have for the breastfeeding mother!, June 25, 2009
By Ev Should Be Working

I am a breastfeeding working mother who struggled for over a year with a low supply with my first child. Now nursing my second child and experiencing similar issues, I immediately purchased this book after hearing about it at my local Le Leche League meeting. This book is by far the most in depth and comprehensive wealth of breastfeeding information that I have come across, and I have scoured the web far and wide to resolve my issues. Before reading this book I had limited information on the physiological process involved in making milk, a point that became crucial in increasing my supply.

Thanks to the information in this book I was able to increase my supply by 25%. On good pumping days I even exceed that!

Not only did this book increase my supply but also my self esteem. So often at my local LLL meetings mom are dealing with over supply issues and hardly a mom comes in with a low supply issue. This book gave me the comfort I needed in knowing that I am not alone and that I can make more milk. I am not the hopeless case I felt I was with my first child.

Best of luck and don't give up!



Answers Every Mom's Milk-Producing Needs, February 14, 2009
By Claudine Wolk "Author of It Gets Easier! and ...

"Making More Milk" is THE resource for the breastfeeding mom. The book addresses, in well-researched detail, every imaginable lactation issue in easy-to-read detail. Helps for Mom, Helps for baby, supplementing, breast issues, back to work issues, all the questions are answered. If you are having trouble with your milk supply or you just want to find out how your breast milk supply works, this is the book for you. The book is indexed for easy use as a reference book for every breastfeeding supply issue that may arise. The book also includes a terrific Galactogogue Table. A new moms deals with many issues, breastfeeding usually being at the top of the list. It's nice to have a reference guide that will answer ALL of her questions in an easy-to-read format.



A book for mothers from the experts other lactation consultants go to for milk supply problems!, December 7, 2008
By Catherine Genna

This book was so interesting, I read it in one sitting! It doesn't talk down to mothers, but does explain how milk production works and how to help yourself if you need more milk for your baby. If you are a mother with lower milk production than you like, this book is for you. There are sections for mothers who are struggling with milk supply for their current baby, and for mothers wanting to have more milk for their next baby. I especially liked the mother's stories that begin each section, and the fact that there are a lot of different options to try for each problem. Best of all, the authors are experts who teach other lactation consultants around the world how to help with milk production problems.




More Reviews >>>

Permission To Mother: Going Beyond The Standard-of-care To Nurture Our Children

Manufacturer: Outskirts Press

Why do you need Permission to Mother?

The "Standard-of-Care" is a legal term, the level at which the average, prudent provider in a given community would practice. It is how similarly qualified practitioners would manage a patient's care under the same or similar circumstances.

Sadly enough, the standard-of-care legally protects only the provider (the physician or hospital) and is not necessarily in the best emotional, physical, or spiritual interest of the consumer (the patient). Dr. Punger's personal experience brought this to her attention. She has experienced a doula-attended hospital birth without intervention, working while tandem nursing, tandem nursing beyond the toddler years, and perhaps most dramatically, a footling breech birth at home.

Included are other women's experiences that go beyond the status quo. All stories have one feature in common: Dr. Punger goes beyond the medical standard-of-care that too often imposes on a women's right to mother to the fullest.

Through her warm, attachment feel stories about her own mothering journey and the inspiring women she is in close contact with, Dr. Punger gives you permission, to birth just the way you want to and to breastfeed for how long you (and your baby) want to.

Customer Reviews

The BREAST book ever!!!, February 8, 2008
By Shannon Miller "Shannon & Katie"

My daughter will be a much healthier because of Dr. Punger. I felt the connection with her the first time I went to her practice for my breast feeding issues. Little did I know that I would continue going to her family practice for my daughter and myself.

I am so proud of Dr. Punger and her book because it will give so many people a different perspective on nurishing children the way nature intented. This book will convey the same kind of philosophy that you will receive in her clinic.

There are so many examples in this book of what may seem like a the impossible but there is always a way to perserve nurturing at the breast. This book is not just for women or just mothers. Fathers and health care providers will learn that there are no excuses to not breastfeed. All barriers can be overcome.



Heart of the Home, February 6, 2008
By Bernadette Clark "RN"

The classic you are about to read will take you along Dr. Punger's personal journey from medical school training to home-centered parenting. Dr. Punger skillfully weaves her subjective experience as a mother with her clinical expertise as a family physician and international board certified lactation consultant. She examines birth and its outcomes in various elements, hospital and home, with and without professional doula support. Breastfeeding from the first moments of life to beyond the typical weaning years is chronicled together with the joys and difficulties women encounter personally and socially in feeding their young. Dr. Punger has a way with putting life into words we can all relate to. She has amassed information covering a large, but very related set of mothering topics. If I could only put her words of wisdom in a nutshell and pour it into the hearts and minds of each of my "mothers," this world would be a better place.




Not your typical self-help book, July 30, 2008
By Danielle Sullivan

As a new mother, I read scores of parenting and breastfeeding books. They all had the same information regarding breastfeeding - most all of it unhelpful and outdated, as well as very hard to read (with a newborn in tow).

Dr. Punger's book was the first book that actually made sense and gave real-world, practical advice. Her book was written with her real-life stories and it draws you in as a reader. She cleverly intertwines her expert advice amoung touching personal stories and you forget you're reading a "self-help" book. She teaches you to trust your instincts and to stop comparing your baby to the medical "norm".

I keep this book right next to my favorite spot to nurse.



The most inspiring book I've ever read!, May 23, 2008
By Patricia Chibas "Trish Chibas"

I'm not sure if there are enough words to describe how much Dr. Punger's book inspired me. Once I opened the book I couldn't put it down! After reading it I feel confident in the way I raise my daughter. In a society that is shaped by social norms and fear of what others might think, Dr. Punger enlightens that we can choose the way we raise our children.

Dr. Punger portrays birth so beautifully and really reminds us that the experience we have while bringing new life into the world is enitrely up to us. My husband and I are anxious to have our next child at home.

Dr. Punger also inspired me to switch to cloth diapers, something I NEVER thought I would do. My daughter had 3 UTI's by the time she was 8 months old. I never thought they could possibly be caused by disposable diapers. But now it makes sense! There are tons of chemicals in those things. I'm glad she pointed that out. None of my daughters doctors ever told me to try switching daipers. They just did really invasive proceedures that had inconclusive results. I'm fairly new at the cloth diapering but Brianna has been free and clear of UTI's since switching.

Since reading "Permission to Mother", I have also decided to breast feed longer than I intended. Actually, I'm not to sure how long that is but I know I don't feel I need to put a time limit on it. I'm comfortable with letting my daughter decide when she is ready to wean.

All in all, "Permission to Mother" is the most incredible, inspiring, and empowering book I have ever read. I love it and strongly recommend it to everyone!!!!!





Every Mother-to-be needs to read this book!, February 26, 2008
By Courtney Girdwood "TheGirdy8"

This book is WONDERFUL! It is the first book I have ever read that truly gives women the freedom the mother their children the way they want to.
I love that it is written by a doctor. It is extremely insightful and I learned so much. I read all of it in two days. It was so good, I could not put it down. I think it should be suggested reading for every first time Mom.



This book empowered the mom in me, July 19, 2008
By Mom Doc

As the reader winds through Dr. Punger's journey - medical school and it's OB 'protocol', her own births and eventual discovery of her unique specialty of breastfeeding medicine - you are brought full circle. I audibly laughed, cried and cringed at her experiences.
She begins as a naive, eager-to-learn hospital volunteer and medical student. She quickly learns that the status quo treatment of laboring moms is not only unnatural, but also very restrictive. Her inner strength encourages her to seek the perfect natural birth for herself, and she finally does with her third child.
Her medical knowledge, own research and personal experiences lead her to a fulfilling career in groundbreaking breastfeeding medicine - to help those of us who also desire a gratifying birthing and breastfeeding experience.




This is a must read!, April 4, 2008
By Kimberly Wildner "Kim Wildner"

There are two main reasons that Dr. Punger's book is important. The first is that she started out with the same culturally imposed beliefs about birth and breastfeeding that most American mothers have. Often, mainstream mothers assume that `alternative' mothers have always had `far out' ideas.

Yet the journey from culturally accepted parenting beliefs to heart-centered intuitive parenting doesn't happen overnight or without good reason. Often it is the result of a great deal of research and soulful exploration. Permission to Mother is Dr. Punger's journey. Part of this journey includes her medical training (and that of her physician husband), which is the second reason this work is so important.

People tend to assume that support of all safe birthing options, including homebirth, automatically requires that someone be `anti'-doctor or `anti'-hospital. Likewise, to advocate for breastfeeding is often taken as an `anti-woman' stance. Somehow it doesn't occur to certain folks that it is only their own erroneous assumptions about birth and breastfeeding that could lead to such conclusions. In any case, in this book, they are challenged. Dr. Punger IS a doctor. She is married to a doctor. Her father-in-law is a retired obstetrician. Obviously she isn't anti-doctor. Yet she supports homebirth and doulas. She is a working woman; yet she's a breastfeeding advocate. Her story is vitally important in putting to rest the `us' against `them' mindset once and for all.

Punger shares with us her education, training and early experiences. We hear first-hand just how little doctors learn about truly normal, natural birth and breastfeeding. She asks important questions about why obstetricians so often jump to surgical solutions when other, less invasive options abound for many variations (sometimes called complications). Her own breech home-birth ends up being part of that process of questioning.

Likewise, her discovery of Dr. Brewer's advice which led to the elimination of toxemia from his own OB practice prompted her to ask, "Why does the medical community ignore his evidence?" Good question; midwives have been using this advice to help mothers to be healthy for decades. The information is there, and it is so simple. Why the resistance?

Perhaps the best part of this book is "Finding Breastfeeding Medicine". Dr. Punger's own breastfeeding experiences led her to supplement her education to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). We learn elsewhere in the book that medical `training' in breastfeeding may include an hour or two of instruction and continuing education sponsored by formula companies. What I want to know is why every single doctor (or nurse) that will discuss infant feeding with new mothers isn't required to be a lactation consultant? Why isn't every obstetrician, pediatrician and family practice physician required to be able to fully inform mothers of the benefits of breastfeeding and understand how to overcome challenges when they occur? How can they actually educate women if this isn't part of their own education? How can they be of assistance if they don't have the motivation to go above and beyond as Dr. Punger chose to do?

I love that the author shows that being a working woman doesn't mean you can't breastfeed. I love that she herself is so dedicated to her boys that she would have them brought to work to nurse them when she couldn't be home. I actually chose my own daughter's pediatrician for exactly that reason: the doctor's husband brought her children to the hospital when she couldn't go home to nurse them.

Because of this level of knowledge of breastfeeding, Punger is also able to address issues such as adoptive nursing and other special situations, as well as introduce the concept of breast-milk donation, which may be a new idea to some readers.

Finally, I'm excited about this book because also home-birthed, cloth diapered, breastfed, co-slept and unschooled my own daughter (who, by the way, is an intelligent, compassionate, independent young adult now, despite dire warnings of where our `weird' parenting choices would lead). It's nice to find a kindred soul.

Kim Wildner
Author of Mother's Intention: How Belief Shapes Birth
HypnoBirthing educator
www.kimwildner.com
www.fearlessbirthing.blogspot.com



More Reviews >>>