As the subject of a popular web reality series, Suzanne Barston and her husband Steve became a romantic, ethereal model for new parenthood. Called "A Parent is Born," the program's tagline was "The journey to parenthood ...from pregnancy to delivery and beyond." Barston valiantly surmounted the problems of pregnancy and delivery. It was the "beyond" that threw her for a loop when she found that, despite every effort, she couldn't breastfeed her son, Leo. This difficult encounter with nursing - combined with the overwhelming public attitude that breast is not only best, it is the yardstick by which parenting prowess is measured - drove Barston to explore the silenced, minority position that breastfeeding is not always the right choice for every mother and every child. Part memoir, part popular science, and part social commentary, "Bottled Up" probes breastfeeding politics through the lens of Barston's own experiences as well as those of the women she has met through her popular blog, The Fearless Formula Feeder. Incorporating expert opinions, medical literature, and popular media into a pithy, often wry narrative, Barston offers a corrective to our infatuation with the breast. Impassioned, well-reasoned, and thoroughly researched, "Bottled Up" asks us to think with more nuance and compassion about whether breastfeeding should remain the holy grail of good parenthood.

About the Author
Suzanne Barston has worked for the past decade as a writer and editor for health and parenting publications, including as the Editor-in-Chief of Los Angeles Family Magazine. She runs The Fearless Formula Feeder blog.

Reviews
"Barston's short and well-researched book ... based on two years' of interviews with pediatricians, researchers, sociologists, statisticians and fellow feminists will either help expectant moms make personal decisions, or potentially reassure them if they find themselves unable to breastfeed when they had wanted to do so." - Top 10 Books to Gift at a Baby Shower Brain, Child



Book Information
ISBN 9780520270237
Author Suzanne Barston
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 408g
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 140mm * 23mm