About the AuthorKathleen Huggins, a registered nurse and board-certified lactation consultant, directed the breastfeeding clinic at San Luis Obispo General Hospital for more than twenty years. During that time she became a central figure in the evolution of the field of professional lactation consultants, who now are found in any hospital of significant size that has a birthing center. She has authored or co-authored six books, including The Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning; Nursing Mother, Working Mother; and The Expectant Parents' Companion, all published by the Harvard Common Press. She currently owns Simply MaMa, a maternity and nursing boutique in San Luis Obispo. She lives in San Luis Obispo with her husband and youngest child. how many books are in print The Nursing Mother's Companion - 6th Edition
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful. Excellent resource - good compliment to nursing class!By M. GrossI am a first time mother, and took nursing classes while in the hospital after giving birth. They were a big help, but it was easy to forget specifics after going home. This book was a life saver! Especially when I had to face the questioning/criticism of my mother in law and other well meaning friends who told me not to nurse my baby every two hours, to let her sleep, etc. After 11 weeks of exclusively and very successfully nursing my daughter, I am happy to have had this book to refer to!! Because I followed the advice in this book, my milk came in right away, and has been plentiful since! The book also helped me deduce that my newborn's "colic" was possibly a reaction to cow's milk protein (which my pediatrician said was unlikely), as well as her awful facial rash (which my pediatrician labled excema). This book suggested eliminating dairy from my diet for 2 weeks, and then reintroducing it; sure enough the symtoms went away and then reappeared briefly until I eliminated dairy again. My baby has clear skin and does not cry for hours, and hasn't for weeks! I'm buying 2 copies of this book for pregnant friends!38 of 39 people found the following review helpful. My middle-of-the-night companionBy Kerri A MackAfter taking two breastfeeding classes through WIC (Women, Infants and Children) and two classes ofered through my hospital - I didn't want to hear another insight on breastfeeding - everything any instructor said always contradicted the other person...I really wasn't planning on reading anything on breastfeeding, because I didn't think there was anything to it...out of all of my childcare books, every reference seemed so clinical - and boring. When my son was born via emergency cesearean on the 4th of January, I was visited by a lactation consultant in my recovery room. Though we were progressing wonderfully and he was latching on fine - I was surprised with all of the questions I suddenly had...after all, I was planning on doing this for AT LEAST 9 months...she recommended this book, I ordered it from (and it arrived quickly in pristine condition!) and it really is great. I have questions every day and we are now on week 3 of nursing. If you are pregnant (or already have a child for that matter!) and think that you might need a breastfeeding book - get this one. The layout is great and all info. very relevant and helpful.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Would be better if Kindle version was properly proofedBy Sophy EdgeworthThis is specifically for the Kindle version only (11/2015). This would be a great resource for anyone who might be interested in breastfeeding, but must mention that there are several typos in the book that render some of the recommendations completely unintelligible - e.g., almost any time there is a recommendation for a specific number of ounces (say, 1.5 ounces of milk per hour for baby), the kindle text has rendered the number to V. So "V ounce" is scattered throughout the book while you sit there wondering, was that 1 ounce, 2? 5? Something else? Other numbers are missing (aside from the ounce recommendation, just about any percentage recommendation is missing. It's just listed as "%" with no number) so without them, this resource becomes a generalized recommendation toward breastfeeding, but with none of the specifics. If you get this book, would strongly recommend you get the paperback version instead.