Big Letdown (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781250026965)

Pediatricians say you should but it's okay if you don't. The hospital says, Breast is best, but sends you home with formula just in case. Your sister-in-law says, Of course you should! Your mother says, I didn't, and you turned out just fine. Celebrities are photographed nursing in public, yet breastfeeding mothers are asked to cover up in malls and on airplanes. Breastfeeding is a private act, yet everyone has an opinion about it. How did feeding our babies get so complicated?

Journalist and infant health advocate Kimberly Seals Allers breaks breastfeeding out of the realm of personal choice and shows our broader connection to an industrialized food system that begins at birth, the fallout of feminist ideals, and the federal policies that are far from family friendly. The Big Letdown uncovers the multibillion-dollar forces battling to replace mothers' milk and the failure of the medical establishment to protect infant health. Weaving together research and personal stories with original reporting on medicine, big pharma, and hospitals, Kimberly Seals Allers shows how mothers and babies have been abandoned by all the forces that should be supporting families from the start--and what we can do to help.

Author: Kimberly Seals Allers
ISBN-10: 1250026962
ISBN-13: 9781250026965
Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
Language: English
Published: 01/24/2017
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.80w x 1.20d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2016
Publishers Weekly 12/05/2016
Library Journal 01/01/2017 pg. 117