Art of breastfeeding

GG Williams and Lydia de Raad, co-Chairs WAB 9th Ed. Task Force

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, the core book of La Leche League International (LLLI), has been published regularly since 1958, the most recent edition dating back to 2010. The book has been a top seller for many years. As plenty of new scientific research has emerged in the last decade, it is important that the content is brought up to date. LLLI is keen to serve the current generation of mothers and parents in a changing society. We know that ideas about breastfeeding are also changing and want to acknowledge them. In addition, LLLI has a presence in over 80 countries. The new edition will better reflect the global aspect of the organization.

LLLI is happy to announce the brilliant writing team for the new edition: Jayne Joyce (UK), Bibiana Moreno-Carranza (Mexico), Teresa Pitman (Canada) and Anna Swisher (USA). The four writers are all LLL Leaders. Read their bios here.

“A MEETING IN A BOOK”

In 2021, the LLLI Board of Directors set up a Task Force composed of representatives from various regions of the world. Their work led to a number of recommendations. The Task Force strongly endorsed the view that the new edition should read like “a meeting in a book”, with a warm and supportive tone. For this reason, the 9th edition will continue to be based on LLL philosophy and reflect a welcome for everyone who wants to breastfeed their babies, no matter what their breastfeeding journey looks like.

Information will be updated to include current research, and to be more inclusive of parents with disabilities, different skin tones, mental health challenges, lower education levels, and disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, as well as young parents and LGBTQI+ families.

The 9th edition will be a single book written in American English with a global audience in mind. LLLI will work on making translations available in our other five official languages as soon as practically possible. They are Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

THE ART OF BREASTFEEDING

A lot of the Task Force’s work revolved around the book title. LLLI sent an internal survey to all its volunteers around the world. The survey gathered information about how the title is seen. The results of the survey were complemented by market insights given by the publisher. These gave us a strong case for changing the title of the new book to The Art of Breastfeeding. This allows us to keep brand continuity while sounding more appealing to the current generation of mothers and parents.

The new edition will be published by Ballantine/PRH, the current publisher. After having discussions with them and the writers’ team, we decided to aim for October 2024 as the publication date for the new book. The writers are already working enthusiastically and the Board has closed the Task Force. It has been a truly amazing journey! All Task Force members are feeling immensely proud of their work over the past year. We can’t wait to hold the 9th edition of The Art of Breastfeeding in our hands!

TASK FORCE MEMBERS

The Task Force members were:
EAN (European Area Network)
Lydia de Raad
Elena Fumagalli

IAN (International Area Network)
Hannah Katsman
Veronique Lesoinne (until May 1, 2022)
Nadiya Dragan (until May 1, 2022)

Ligue La Leche (French-speaking Canada)
Marie-Lyne Pelletier

LLL Alliance (USA)
Pam Freedman

LLL Canada
Natalie Borden

LLLGB (Great Britain)
GG Williams

LLL New Zealand
Robin Jones

LLL USA
Ashley Mazzanti,
replaced by Petrichor Kneeland-Campbell (January 2022)

Board/Staff
Carolyn Driver-Burgess (LLL New Zealand) ex officio, Board co-Chair
Ellen Mateer (LLLGB) ex officio, Board co-Chair
Shevawn O’Connor (EAN), Board Liaison
Devorah Schesch-Wernick (IAN), Board Member
Zion Tankard (Staff Liaison)