I saw If These Boobs Could Talk: A Little Humor to Pump Up the Breastfeeding Mom by Adrienne Hedger and Shannon Payette Seipat the bookstore. I laughed out loud at the front cover illustration and cartoon caption “Oh great, a tooth”.
Breastfeeding can be a beautiful thing, and I’m very glad I nursed my own children. But breastfeeding also has lots of unexpected and embarrassing moments like leaky breasts, unexpected letdowns, tricky nursing bras, soggy shirts, and unplanned exposures. This book treats all those moments with a light-hearted irreverence that will earn laughs of recognition from nursing mothers everywhere.
Nursing mothers don’t have a lot of time. I think it’s great that this book realizes that, the sections are only a page or two and can be read in any order and enjoyed in spare minutes. There are cartoons of bad times to breastfeed, types of hold you don’t find in books, the ideal breast pump (which includes head and back massagers and an automatic equipment cleaner), and the perfect nursing chair (complete with sound system, book holder, and a grabber tool to snag those things just out reach).
There’s a hilarious quiz on who hasn’t actually seen your boobs, a list of ways to explain to your spouse just what engorged feels like, and the word “breast” in sixteen languages.
The humor is interspersed with real and helpful information. A great example is from a true of false quiz. The question is “A one-month baby typically takes in three ounces of milk in every feeding.” The answer is “True, but what good is this information when you are breastfeeding and have no idea if baby is ingesting one ounce or one gallon.” Another question explains that sleep does help your body produce more milk and that this is indeed a “cruel irony”.
My favorite part is the Boob-tionary. It lists definitions like “nip nap” which is when you fall asleep nursing, exposing your nipple to the world.
I think this book would make a great gift for any nursing mother. I think it’s a great dose of humor and encouragement.
Also See:
Do I Need That? Helpful Gear for the Breastfeeding Mother
Practices That Promote Breastfeeding