The Politics of Breastfeeding: When Breasts are Bad for Business [Paperback]

Gabrielle Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2009

As revealing as Freakonomics, shocking as Fast Food Nationand thought provoking as No Logo, The Politics of Breastfeeding exposes infant feeding as one of the most important public health issues of our time. Every thirty seconds a baby dies from infections due to a lack of breastfeeding and the use of bottles, artificial milks and other risky products. In her powerful book Gabrielle Palmer describes how big business uses subtle techniques to pressure parents to use alternatives to breastmilk. The infant feeding product companies' thirst for profit systematically undermines mothers' confidence in their ability to breastfeed their babies. An essential and inspirational eye-opener, The Politics of Breastfeeding challenges our complacency about how we feed our children and radically reappraises a subject which concerns not only mothers, but everyone: man or woman, parent or childless, old or young.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Fully explores the political, economic, and social implications of bottle feeding versus breastfeeding. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Gabrielle Palmer is a nutritionist and a campaigner. She was a breastfeeding counsellor in the 1970s and helped establish the UK pressure group Baby Milk Action. In the early 1980s she lived and worked as a volunteer in Mozambique. She has written, taught and campaigned on infant feeding issues, particularly the unethical marketing of baby foods. In the 1990s she co-directed the International Breastfeeding: Practice and Policy course at The Institute of Child Health in London until she went to live in China for two years. She has worked independently for various health and development agencies, including serving as HIV and Infant Feeding Officer for UNICEF New York. She recently worked at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where she had originally studied nutrition. She is a mother and a grandmother.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Pinter & Martin Ltd; 3rd edition (July 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190517716X
• ISBN-13: 978-1905177165
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully educational, painfully true., August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Politics of Breastfeeding (Issues in Women's Health) (Paperback)

As a breastfeeding advocate myself, I wish that all young men and women were required to read this in high school, before parnethood. This book lets the reader see the conection between money, big business, and formula marketing. The book educates on the vast differences between artifical feeding and human milk, differences that the general population is unaware of. If you want to get fired-up over an issue, this is the book for you.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real eye opener!, July 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Politics of Breastfeeding (Issues in Women's Health) (Paperback)

As someone who had to defend breastfeeding my child, I already had strong views about how society looks at the practise. The first time I read this book (first edition)I found the history behind it fascinating. What really alarmed me, though, was the truth behind formulas and what used to pass as formula! After getting the second edition, I was dismayed to find that nothing had improved in 10 years. This book is well researched an passionate. Be warned! After reading this, you may just become an activist!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars motivational rhetoric for the breastfeeding advocate!, November 4, 1999

By 

Pamela (Dubuque, IA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Politics of Breastfeeding (Issues in Women's Health series) (Paperback)

Already over ten years old, Gabrielle Palmer's eye-opening book pioneered some of the breastfeeding advocacy arguments being used by activists today.

Links obstacles placed in the way of breastfeeding mothers to the devaluation of the motherhood role which occurred during the growth of the industrial revolution.

Detailed history of breastfeeding and wet-nursing. Narrates the history of the Nestle scandal, in empathy with 3rd World perspective. A strong advocate for the rights of all babies to be nourished from the breast.

Counters anti-breastfeeding sentiment in today's society. Explains away sexuality myths which hinder women from breastfeeding in public. Terrific book for the breastfeeding professional who wants to boost their arguments!