I believe in human milk for human babies


In 2006, I wrote this essay for This I Believe, which at the time was a regular feature on National Public Radio.  My essay was never read aloud on NPR, perhaps because it wasn’t well-written, or maybe because the topic wasn’t ready for public consumption yet.  At the time, I was advised not to tell…

My thoughts on the vitamin D controversy


In April of 2011, Best for Babes unveiled a new website, and I was thrilled to be the first guest for the “Making Sense of the Science” blog section.  My article on vitamin D and breastfeeding has caused quite a stir on Facebook fan pages where its link was posted, such as The Leaky Boob…

Breastfeeding in pregnancy


My son was a few weeks from his 3rd birthday, and lingering congestion and a cough weren’t passing.  He started running a fever and was nursing non-stop, which was starting to wear me a bit thin, since, at that point in my pregnancy (about 30 weeks), there wasn’t much milk and my breasts were very,…

Old enough to ask for it


When my first baby, now 8, was about 3 months old, I shared a recital with my clarinet quartet.  We had our customary, post-performance gathering of celebration at one of the guys’ homes afterward, and, of course Anna was with me – I went nowhere without her.  I was the only woman in the group…

The opposite of normal


You’re trying to not like me.  You’re mad at me because I’m calling breastfeeding normal, and you didn’t breastfeed.  Or you breastfed for awhile, it got complicated, so you weaned to artificial baby milk.  Or you pumped your milk and fed it to your baby in a bottle, which wasn’t actually breastfeeding but was human…