The ABCs of Breastfeeding: Everything a Mom Needs to Know for a Happy Nursing Experience [Paperback]

I read this book cover to cover when I was about 3 months pregnant. I had many worries being this was my first pregnancy. I had many questions about breastfeeding and I also had some concerns about the birth itself and the hospital experience. This book covered all my questions regarding breastfeeding and had many important tips. The layout of the book is extremely user-friendly and the text is intriguing and informative all at once. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of information in this book about having a fulfilling birth experience. My pregnancy has its share of complications but this book gave me the confidence to ask the right questions and the knowledge to know what to request to make this birth a positive experience for me and my baby. I actually switched to a baby-friendly hospital at 20 weeks after finding that their standard care lines up perfectly with the ideas that Stacy Rubin recommends for developing a positive breastfeeding experience. I would never have known what to ask for or what was important if I didn't have this handy resource to rely upon. If you are breastfeeding or considering breastfeeding, get this book! It is a must-have! Better yet - it makes a wonderful gift to any expectant mom.

The book covers basic theory on the breastfeeding while giving some real life examples. What I didn't like while reading chapter after chapter is that she brings an example of what she believe it the right way of doing things and then in order to confirm that her way is the right way, brings an example of failed opposite. Like, how someone gave pacifier and that affected breastfeeding relationship, or someone tried scheduling every 3 hours and it affected breastfeeding. That's a narrow minded approach. My niece successfully breastfed her 2 children and she had given the pacifier starting from the hospital and had scheduled breastfeeding starting from day one and it all worked like a charm. So did my sister who tought the same techniques to her daughter.
The author doesn't cover deeper issues that mothers face nowedays that affect breastfeeding attempts. I will bring my own example and the example of my best friend. My breastfeeding failed with my first child due to lack of information and support. I should have done my homework before going to the hospital. I relied on LC and they were not helpfull. I had inverted nipple and assumed that with that kind of nipples it is immpossible to breastfeed. I ended up pumping for 7 months while working full time. I could only provide 70% though. The book doesn't explain the issues behind inverted nipples and measures to take them to prevent them from becoming an issue. I know now that I could have still breastfeed if I had tried a shield, or if I had used a breast shells for inverted nipples to draw it out before breastfeeding, or that there are different suction cups that you use a few hours a day to pull the nipple out. Or different techniques I could have used right before feeding attempt, such as cold clothe on a nipple to make it stand out and trying to latch the baby on. Another issue I had was that my mature milk came in too late, more like 8 days even though I was hooked up to the electric pump 8-9 times a day, sometimes I would sit with it for more than an hour and couldn't get more than a tablespoon. It doesn't talk about that either.
My friend had her mature milk come in late as well. Lately I was doing some research on internet and learnt that due to all IV fluids during labor , it is possible that it causes the mature milk to come in late. And I found out that in this case you can use different techniques to expedite the process. You can do reverse pressure softening (pressing around nipple like a flower to push some of the fluid built up and promote mlik ejection), or apply warmth to the breast for milk ejection, either by filling a sock with raw rice and the wetting and microvawing for a few seconds to make it warm and applying to the breast before feeding or pumping. My friend has big breasts and she delivered a big baby 10lbs 6oz. Because her milk was late, the baby was constantly hungry crying, lost more than 10% weight. So she eventually started suplementing formula. Her mature milk was really late more like 2-3 weeks. She kept pumping but not much would come out and it was still yellow. One day I told her to take a warm bath and take the pump with her to the bathroom and pump right after. She said she could get more out of the breasts. I think she had too much collostrum since she has huge breasts bur the baby was not effectively sucking it out. He was latching correctly as confirmed by LC but still... I think the collostrum was somewhat hard in her breast making it hard to pull it out and letting room for mature milk to flow. Her collostrum was like a cork in her breast ducts. If she had known earlier she could have applied warm to soften the hardened collostrum to flow easier before feeding and she could have used reverse pressure softening around her nipple to help the ejection. And her milk would come earlier. Because it was soo late, the baby will not breastfeed anymore. He will take the breast but he will use it as a pacifier. He has no patience to suck it to get the milk out. He wants his bottle and that's it.

I have learnt that 80% of women taking polls plan on breastfeeding but less than 50% do so, because they think it is harder than the bottle. And it is all because of the early problems. Either the baby doesn't latch on due inverted or flat nipples, sore nipples, or the milk doesn't come in on time. Sometimes hand expressing the collostrum in the hospital might be more effective than electric pump but the author doesn't not talk about any of these. I have done so much research on internet reading and reading about breasfeeding and watching videoes, looking at pictures. Because I am expecting my 2nd in a week and I am so scared that I might fail again. This time I am not relying on LC at the hospital because last time I did and they didn't help me. Later on I found out there was a conflict of interest. The LC had her business of renting out electric pumps and she knew how desperately I wanted to give my baby a breast milk. At the end she offered to rent the pump from her. I think that's why she wasn't as helpfull. I had told her that may be my insurance would cover if I buy one, she offered to call my insurance herself. She came back to me saying, no they don't cover a pump. I called the same insurance I have 2 months ago to verify that they really don't cover and guess what, they said it is covered by my insurance 100% without any pocket money, under a Durable medical equpiment list. They even gave me the locations where I can get one after I have my baby #2. Another thing I found lately looking back at my papers from baby #1 is that LC was giving the hospital grade pump for $40 a month. But lately in the papers I saw that she was offering $35 if rented 2 or more months. I rented it for 7 months and sent her a check $40 a month. She never mentioned to me about the discount. If you have had your first baby you know how stressfull and draining are those first months till you establish some control over things, especially if you are also going to work full time. I trusted people around me at the hospital and they did what was in their best interest. They told me more imporant thing is that the baby is fed, if you can't breastfeed, dont worry there is still formulae. They gave me a huge samples of ready to feed enfemil, disposable nipples, everything for free. That's how I failed. Now I am reading books and have read so much that I know how this book is limited compared to the all information I have collected so far. If you really want to learn, don't limit yourself to this book or to its limited examples. The internet, google, youtube are your best resource and they are free of charge. I am glad I ordered the book from the library and saved myself $10. Well, I wanted to give my 2 cents. GOOD LUCK TO ALL MOTHERS OUT THERE!!!

I came across this book while breastfeeding my third child and I wish I had found it sooner! The real life examples make moms realize that they are not alone in any problem they might experience. There's also a lot of practical advice, including how to deal with hospital staff, doctors, and family and friends who might not be completely supportive of nursing.
This will definitely be on my gift list for new moms-to-be!