Breastfeeding a baby--what could be more natural? Just cradle that

precious newborn in your arms and offer him your breast. What could be

simpler?

Breastfeeding a baby is simple and natural--if you know how to do it.

But it takes information and encouragement and some motherly know-

how to nurse a baby, as the seven of us who founded La Leche League

quickly discovered with our first nursing attempts~ How often should you

nurse? How long on each side? How do you know if baby is getting enough

to eat? What other foods does he need? And what if he seems hungry

again only an hour after he has been nursed?

When the seven of us found each other in 1956 and formed La Leche

League, answers to such questions were as scarce as mother's milk itself.

But we had breastfed a combined total of twenty-four babies, and by then

had a good idea of what did and didn't work, what was and wasn't helpful.

The secret of success in nursing a baby, we had discovered, was having

the right information and having another nursing mother to turn to for

advice and reassurance~

In THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING we have attempted to

put a philosophy about being a mother and nurturing an infant between

covers. This book is our way of sharing the sense of satisfaction and

fulfillment countless mothers have found through nursing their babies,

and the special joys that are awaiting as you embark on the great adventure

of motherhood.

Our first two editions, published in 1958 and 1963, were based largely

on our own personal experiences. This third edition draws on the wisdom

that has been accumulated through the many thousands of breastfeeding

mothers who have so generously shared their experiences with us during

the past twenty-five years. Our only regret is that we cannot include more

of the many inspiring and informative stories that have come our way.

As you will notice, we write from the perspective of a household consisting

of husband, wife, and child or children. Breastfeeding and good mothering,

we are convinced, progress more easily in such an environment, and

children naturally flourish under the loving care of both a mother and a

father. But from personal experience, we also know that as right and

natural as this picture is, it does not always hold true in real life. Sometimes

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