A book review:
Breastfeeding the Newborn Clinical Strategies for Nurses (1999) by Marie Biancuzzo is an excellent text for
nurses working in Maternal Child Health. The author is herself a Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist. The book summarizes current
research for
breastfeeding the very
young baby in a single text. Good texts that are as relevant as this are rare. The book doesn’t over simplify but is very much a nurse’s how to manual. In fact, it is the only text I know to carry good instructions for
alternative feeding methods in a detailed “how to” format.
This book is appropriate for ALL nurses working in Maternal Child Health and all lactation consultants.
I emphasize ALL nurses working in Maternal Child Health because I don’t believe a nurse working in this field should pick and choose if she will be knowledable about breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is the
optimal health choice for mothers and babies and ALL nurses (and doctors but this is a nurse’s text book) working with mothers and babies should at the very
minimum be
enthusiastic and
effective supporters.