ALISON JONES, OXFORD, UK Originally published May 2016 and republished with the express permission of the author. Connections Your loving arms are all the charms I need when you keep me close, feed me at the breast, I won’t protest if you hold me all the time, I’m yours and you’re mine, we are together, … Read More
ALISON JONES, Oxford, UK Originally published April 2016 and republished with the express permission of the author. Breasts Here on my chest are these things called breasts, I spent many years waiting for them to appear, a sign of womanhood clear to see, a curvaceous indication of puberty and attainment of the adult state, I … Read More
Alison Jones, Oxford, UK Originally published May 2016 and republished with the express permission of the author. A Shout Out for the Mothers Give me a shout for all the mothers, biological and others, who do the mothering thing, who feed and nurture and cook and look up everything, to make their right choices, in … Read More
Natalie D. Preston-Washington Excerpted from from Free to Breastfeed: Voices of Black Mothers published by Praeclarus Press, used with permission. Photo: Jeanine-Valrie-Logan There is no legacy of breastfeeding on my side of the family. I am my parent’s only child and my mother did not breastfeed me. Nor did her sister breastfeed her daughter, which explains why … Read More
PROFESSOR HELEN BALL, Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre, Department of Anthropology, Durham University, UK Originally published September 2016, updated November 2016 and republished with the express permission of the author. Photo: Belle Verdiglione Infant sleep: sleep development Infant sleep is different from that of adults. Babies don’t sleep all night, fall asleep differently, and have shorter sleep … Read More
Diane Wiessinger, Diana West, Linda J. Smith, Teresa Pitman Photo: Weaver by Lisa on Location Photography Excerpted from Sweet Sleep: Nighttime and Naptime Strategies for the Breastfeeding Family, Chapter 2: The Safe Sleep Seven, by Diane Wiessinger, Diana West, Linda J. Smith, Teresa Pitman, a La Leche League International book, Ballantine Books, 2014. Wah! Wah! Wah! Drag … Read More
TERESA PITMAN Originally published May 2014 and republished with the express permission of the author. Photo: Sweetdreams Photography. I was once in an airport, waiting for my flight, when I saw a father carrying around his baby. The baby wasn’t crying hard, just fussing and being unhappy, and the dad was patting his back gently as … Read More
MELISSA CLARK VICKERS, HUNTINGDON, TENNESSEE, USA Originally published August 2016, republished here with the express permission of the author. Touch comes before sight, before speech. It is the first language, and the last, and it always tells the truth.—Margaret Atwood How are you feeling today? Have you ever thought about what that really means? It’s interesting … Read More
TERESA PITMAN Originally published July 2016 and republished with the express permission of the author. My mother, like many in her generation, believed that physicians were all-knowing and always right. You wouldn’t question what a doctor told you! I don’t feel the same way, and neither do most of my contemporaries. What changed our perspective? … Read More
TERESA PITMAN Originally published June 2016 and republished with the express permission of the author. Reading articles about “mothering the new mother” (or, more inclusively, “nurturing the new parent”) would always make me cry. Have your partner take some time off work and help you out after you give birth, the article would say. See … Read More