Customer Reviews

Breastfeeding Basics DVD

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Breastfeeding Basics is a great way to get started on an amazing journey with your baby...

THE Dr. William Sears appears in this video--so cool! The lactation consultants in the video provide excellent instruction on the essentials of breastfeeding as they guide new mothers and their babies on camera. The information and instruction provided by the experts come to life with emotionally moving stories and insights from moms and dads. Production quality is outstanding.

My first child had difficulty breastfeeding--it didn't help that there was no lactation consultant on staff in the hospital where I delivered. While I did have the right books, took a breastfeeding class, AND went to lactation consultants for help, I didn't have a real visual model of what the proper positioning and sucking pattern should look like until we got it right. In Breastfeeding Basics proper positioning of mommy and baby are demonstrated so you can follow along as you get started breastfeeding. I also really like how examples of the nutritive and non-nutritive sucking patterns are shown--knowing the difference would have been helpful in my particular case. If I had had the Breastfeeding Basics DVD with my first, we could have gotten things off the ground a lot sooner. (Thankfully I knew about the benefits of breastfeeding for me and my baby, so we persevered and breastfed for a good long time after the initial struggle!)

The information and instruction presented in Breastfeeding Basics will help any new mother begin successfully breastfeeding. The video does a nice recap of essential points, and of course can be watched over and over before and after delivery.

Breastfeeding Basics goes beyond your typical instructional video--it's so inspiring and beautiful!

The other breastfeeding videos in the Mother of 7 series are great too--Breastfeeding Intensive and Breastfeeding Comprehensive are longer versions of Breastfeeding Basics--also Breastfeeding FAQs: Ask the Experts has a lot of helpful information. A preview of Breastfeeding Comprehensive can be seen at [...]

Happy Breastfeeding!

I ordered this DVD when I was already breastfeeding and having a rough time of it. This product did NOT do what was promised. While they show you footage of women breastfeeding in multiple positions, you are only shown the one (cradle) position. The 20 minute video spends more time selling people on the act of breastfeeding than on the mechanics of it - which is what I bought the video for after reading the description and other reviews. Fortunately, by the time I watched the DVD, I was having a better time of things, and could laugh at how NOT HELPFUL it was vs. being further disappointed by the experience.

There's very little in the way of real, useful information here for a mother who's committed to breastfeeding her child and may be having some difficulty making it work. At least half of the video is "why you should breastfeed" information, which is useless if you're already committed to doing it. The instructional segments were scanty and had very little of substance to offer.

If you're going to spend this amount of money on a breastfeeding DVD, I wholeheartedly (and with no prospect of personal gain) recommend Dr. Jack Newman's Visual Guide to Breastfeeding, which is available for about the same price as this absurd piece of fluff, on his website, drjacknewman.com. (Incidentally, lots of fantastic info on that site for free.) His DVD really IS packed with great, helpful information, shows a variety of women breastfeeding their babies instead of just one, and focuses intensively on getting that good latch that is so crucial. I found it so helpful to me when my (now 9-month-old, and still breastfed) son was newborn - while the Breastfeeding Basics DVD went back out the door very quickly.

Are you a pregnant mom looking for the perfect DVD for basic breastfeeding information? Are you shopping for the perfect shower gift for the mother-to-be? Are you a lactation consultant looking for that perfect 20 minute DVD to add to your class? This is IT! I am a lactation consultant who teaches prenatal breastfeeding classes and I recommend this for all pregnant women to see. I probably own almost every breastfeeding video out there, and this is my favorite. Dads will benefit by learning this information also. This DVD gives the basic information for correct positioning and latching which is THE most important beginning information to know - and so much more is packed into these 20 minutes. There is an excellent animation section so the viewer can see exactly what is happening in the baby's mouth. The photography in this DVD is gorgeous. The producer, herself once a nursing mother, truly understands what basic information a woman needs. Breastfeeding is not instinctive, but rather a learned art, and this DVD is an excellent teaching tool. If I could give this a rating higher than 5 stars I would. Check out the 45 minute DVD titled "Breastfeeding Intensive," and the 130 minute DVD titled "Breastfeeding Comprehensive," which are longer DVDs including more informaton in this series if you want more than just the basics in 20 minutes. You will enjoy all of them.

Katy Lebbing, IBCLC
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant

I don't know why Amazon only sells this 20 minute excerpt for so much money, when the "Breastfeeding Comprehensive" is available elsewhere on the internet, which lasts 130 minutes (one hundred and thirty), and which costs about 50% more. Or you could borrow it from your local library, which I did. The long version actually is comprehensive in its coverage of issues, and is well-done. This 20 minute one seems more aimed at selling the advantages and promoting the practice of breastfeeding:It can't possibly cover all the hows. It's just an introduction.

William Sears MD, Jay Gordon MD, and Stephanie Scholz Neurohr should be ashamed to put their names on this DVD, let alone sell it for $37. One would think that 20 minutes would be enough to demonstrate proper breastfeed techniques. Well it would be, if they spent 20 minutes on that. Instead they spend about 8 minutes on technique, and then another 12 on interviews with people talking about how great breastfeeding is, how it is going to bring about world peace etc.

In those 8 minutes of instruction, they promise to show you 4 positions for breastfeeding. They show 4, but only demonstrate one. The computer animations? The same animation over and over.

If you want a pep talk about breastfeeding, or watch people sitting in a circle on a hillside in Hawaii, then purchase this. If you want a through how-to guide to breastfeeding, save your money for something better. If I was a more cynical person, I would think that they produced their DVD Breastfeeding Comprehensive, and then decided to sell more copies by excerpting 20 minutes, and making a whole new DVD.

As a future breastfeeding mom as well as someone who has taught breastfeeding classes, I highly recommend this video. Not only is this creatively done, it appears to be very well researched.