Dear Readers

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the last issue of Breastfeeding Today for this year!

Erin L. O’Reilly’s rhymes from Liquid LLLove are the protagonist of our poetry column: “Limitlessly fluent and affluent / flowing fluid / Luxurious Liniment / Lacteal Love / Luscious and illustrious / Like white blood”.

Love is certainly at the heart of our relationships, the core that brings us together and leads us to seek approval and support. As Kristin Oparaji tells us in her article Nursing Through Controversy: “The partner, the mother-in-law, and even our own mothers are people we love and trust. It can be difficult when the advice is not in sync with our own intuition. Whether we like it or not, our parents and partner’s parents come from a different generation with different teachings on how to raise a child. Every few years, the experts – such as health care providers – have a new recommendation on how you should raise your baby ‘the right way’.”

In fact, experts’ recommendations are the ones that can also influence our choices to breastfeed, thus greatly affecting our and our children’s health. As Erin L. O’Reilly affirms in her book, The recipe for Breastfeeding Support in America, “Breastfeeding deserves more support! Breastfeeding is essential for health, but breastfeeding families need support for this work!” [1] Find out more in this special book review.

As this is the last issue of the year, we would like to give you a special gift by publishing the following articles translated into Spanish thanks to an incredible team of LLL Leaders and the son of a Leader, Pedro Bernal, who generously volunteered his time and expertise.

• Mi bebé prematuro
• El poder del espíritu de voluntariado
• Determinadas a amamantar: tres madres guatemaltecas comparten sus secretos para combinar el trabajo con la lactancia
• La vida con un recién nacido en Japón: adoptando costumbres y encontrando mi propio camino
• La vida como una «extractora exclusiva»
• Preguntas frecuentes sobre la lactancia después de una pérdida

Before wishing you a pleasant read, here is a sweet treat to prepare with your children, Festive Butter Cookies, a special family recipe by Penelope Karagouni.

Enjoy your reading!

1. Erin L. O’Reilly. The Recipe For Breastfeeding Support In America, Healthy Nourishment, LLC: Sant Louis Missouri. 2020; back cover.