Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The Essential Guide for Breastfeeding and Staying Close to Your Baby After You Return to Work [Hardcover]

Gale Pryor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1997

Essential advice and encouragement for breastfeeding mothers who work.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Going back to work after having a baby? You don't have to wean your little one. In Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The Essential Guide for Breastfeeding and Staying Close to Your Baby After You Return to Work, Gale Pryor has written a nuts-and-bolts guide for nursing and working at the same time. Pryor breast-fed each of her two children while working full-time outside the home, and her experience and voice of reassurance informs this book. She makes a strong case for breast-feeding: not only is it good for your baby, but many working women find that it is the easiest way to care for their child, and for themselves. Early chapters cover breast-feeding basics. Later chapters focus on preparing to go back to work, instructions on pumping (equipment and positioning), how to manage life at home and at work, and how to cope if you "fall apart" when your baby is six months old (common among new mothers who work outside the home). The book describes a typical day of pumping and nursing for babies of various ages, how to combine nursing and formula feeding, and how to stop leaking breasts (discreetly press on your nipples with the back of your forearms or with your elbows). Appendices include a list of resources for nursing, working mothers and a sample proposal for pumping space. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

New mothers may view the involved parenting that breast-feeding requires as incompatible with commitment to a career rather than as an effective strategy for blending the two sides of their lives into a new whole. In this sensitive, insightful guide that acknowledges the concerns working mothers face, Pryor maintains that breast-feeding provides a way to bond with the baby, nurture a child's healthy growth, and gain confidence as a parent. Pryor supplements the emotional support she provides with practical tips on getting started and coping with setbacks and also with specific tasks facing working mothers, such as choosing a breast pump, integrating pumping sessions into daily work schedules, and maintaining milk supply. Kathryn Carpenter

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Common Press; 1 edition (July 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558321160
• ISBN-13: 978-1558321168
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,728,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A real confidence booster!, February 25, 2002

By 

Nikol Le Vine "poet17" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The Essential Guide for Breastfeeding and Staying Close to Your Baby After You Return to Work (Paperback)

There was never any doubt in my mind that I would be a dedicated breastfeeding mom from the very beginning. When it was time for me to return to work, I dreaded the separation from my baby. I was concerned that my son wouldn't take to the bottle, that I wouldn't express enough during the day, that he'd start to prefer formula...my list of worries went on. I had actually been pumping at work for nearly a month when I bought this book. I thought it would give me some additional tips on making the most of the experience. I really fell in love with it! Every time I'd pick it up, I'd feel like the authors were giving me a big pat on the back for being so committed to giving my son the best. It stressed that even though you're back at work, and regardless of the reasons you returned (whether you had to work for financial reasons, were dedicated to your career, etc.), by continuing to nurse you have a firm and lasting connection with your baby. And I found that as time went on, and I had times when I wasn't as enthusiastic about pumping, if I read a bit of this book, it brought back those good feelings and reaffirmed that I was doing the right thing. It's excellent for motivation and confidence in working mothers.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful but didn't address a wide enough range., June 11, 1998

By 

Brooklyn Babe "joannawnyc" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The Essential Guide for Breastfeeding and Staying Close to Your Baby After You Return to Work (Paperback)

I recommend this book to women I know who are going back to work and want to continue breastfeeding. It makes a seeming daunting experience seem a bit less impossible. When I read it, I wasn't sure if I could believe some of what Ms Pryor wrote (for instance, I was none too sure about the reassurance that if your baby didn't drink much expressed breast milk from a bottle during the day, he/she would make up for it by nursing more at night--yeah right, that was going to be just great if I were working all day. But, in fact, it has turned out absolutely fine and I love the time my son and I have together). I would sum up by saying that nursing and working is at times difficult, but it is well worth trying to pull it off. I only wish that the author had addressed a wider range of workplace experiences, because I think that if women who read this book recognized their own situations, they would be less likely to doubt what the author says. Because I assure you that all the advice she writes is absolutely do-able, accurate, true and IT WORKS!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the Information I was Looking For, October 9, 2000

By 

"mom2annalyn" (Decatur, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The Essential Guide for Breastfeeding and Staying Close to Your Baby After You Return to Work (Paperback)

I was disappointed by this book. Much of it was devoted to convincing you to breastfeed, and what I wanted was practical how to advice! Also, I found much of the advice too time consuming and a bit unrealistic for the typical working mom. I have nursed and worked a full time job for the past 4 months, and my pumping schedule doesn't come close to those shown in the book! Overall, I would have preferred more "real life" stories and more examples of different ways to combat common problems that you may encounter while working and breastfeeding.

All this being said, of the nursing/working books out there, this is probably the best one.