Generally speaking, breastfeeding books are not that fun to read. Many are similar to college textbooks. Even the books geared towards parents and non-professionals tend to read more like how-to manuals: full of important information, but doesn’t really make an emotional impact. That all changed for me when I read Laura Keegan’s e-book, Breastfeeding with Comfort and Joy.
A new kind of breastfeeding e-book
©Laura Keegan, Breastfeeding with Comfort and Joy
Keegan, a family nurse practitioner, has written an e-book that is both informative and emotional. Her goal is to provide visual assurance to mothers who are curious about breastfeeding. If you’ve never seen a baby breastfeed, it makes sense that you’d have anxiety when attempting to nurse your own baby. Our culture has accepted bottle-feeding as the norm. It’s so easy to see bottle-feeding (movies, TV, the park, restaurants, etc.). As such, we have been imprinted with bottle-feeding behaviors that don’t support breastfeeding. We do what we see – so if we want to encourage more breastfeeding, we need to make sure people see it!
This e-book allows families to catch a glimpse of the breastfeeding dance between mother and baby. The photographs are what sets this book apart. These powerful images accurately represent many of the situations we lactation consultants try to describe: the content baby who has had enough, that ideal nipple-to-nose position, and even how to position twins for tandem feeds. I found myself getting choked up at a few of them, because the love between mother and child really came through.
More than just photos
©Laura Keegan, Breastfeeding with Comfort and Joy
Peppered between the full-page photos are the requisite instructions and tips for how to reenact these photos. Families can learn about the bedrock of breastfeeding – latch and positioning – as well as other popular topics like nighttime feeding, how often baby should be fed, how to know when baby is full, and what to do if it hurts. One of my favorite features of this e-book are the embedded videos. If you are a visual learner, you will love them too. Keegan has provided four videos that show babies taking the breast at various ages (1 week, 3.5 weeks, 5-8 weeks, and 1-week old twins). This is an excellent way to see how subtle adjustments can make a huge difference in the breastfeeding experience. There is a video showing the art of hand expression (a skill all breastfeeding moms should cultivate, in my opinion), breast compression, skin-to-skin, and more. Note: these videos will only work on supporting devices, such as the iPad I used.
Ideal for anyone
I recommend this e-book to anyone interested in breastfeeding. Professionals can use the gorgeous photos and videos to illustrate common breastfeeding situations to clients. Families can use the book to learn about the mechanics of breastfeeding while actually seeing it play out. Lactation students and trainees will find this a wonderful complement to the more clinical texts used in their studies.
Laura Keegan has generously donated two copies of her e-book for our C.A.R.E.-Code Alliance Gift Basket, which is part of the giveaway for the 2016 Miracle Milk® Stroll. Anyone who registers for a stroll or donates a minimum of $10 will be entered into this incredible giveaway, which includes breast pumps, tote bags, and even a BOB stroller from Britax! It’s the chance to win some fabulous prizes AND help preterm babies get better access to life-saving human milk – a win-win situation! Giveaway will be open until May 31, 2016.
Disclaimer: Laura Keegan provided a complementary copy of her e-book for review purposes. All opinions expressed in this post are my own and were not influenced by receipt of the e-book. Best for Babes provides product reviews by invitation only and does not receive monetary compensation for such reviews. All companies and products reviewed are C.A.R.E.-Code and WHO-Code compliant and ones we feel would be beneficial to our readers.
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