Rating: 
Summary: good, but needs a practical companion manual
Review: As a devout breastfeeder, which I vowed to be during my pregnancy, I was determined that breastfeeding would be a success for my daughter and me. She was then born as a champion nurser, and I left the hospital certain that my brilliant girl and I would spend the next year enjoying this special experience together. Three weeks later, however, when she was on what they termed her second large growth spurt, and ate and cried frequently, leaving me in fairly significant pain and exhausted, I ordered The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. This had been recommended by La Leche League and some friends, so I waited eagerly to see solutions to all of my breastfeeding woes.
What I got was a fairly lengthy tome about the virtues of breastfeeding, staying home with your children, and co-sleeping. Well, I can spout the benefits of breastfeeding with the best of them, and staying home isn't an option for me. I was given a lot of information about how different babies eat different amounts, that it's impossible to determine what schedule will be "normal" for each baby, and basically that direct breastfeeding was better than pumping. There were some helpful hints about dealing with mastitis and plugged ducts, but not many specifics beyond what any mom could suggest. Particularly unhelpful was the section about "choosing" to work, which described how mothers and babies are bonded and the impact on children of being separated from their mothers. As a working mother in a foreign country for my job, working for a company that will sue me if I quit, the word "choice" isn't in my vocabulary, so I didn't really appreciate the litany that nagged even more at my already bruised conscience.
This book does have some helpful guidelines, and can be very encouraging to anyone wanting to breastfeed but unsure of themselves. Since I was already confident and determined to nurse, it wasn't as helpful for me. If there was a companion manual entitled something like "The Practical Science of Breastfeeding," this would be a great counterpart. I just needed more specifics, about everything from pumping to hand expression to sleeping through the night. This was just a little too "everything is different for every family" for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Waste of money!
Review: This book was a total disappointment. It didn't tell me anything different from the information that I received free from my hospital. I was so frustrated when I got home from the hospital and I had read this book about a month before my daughter was born. The best advice I can give is to see a lactation consultant at the hospital where your child was born or see if you can have someone come in and actually help you have your baby latch on. The book has zero information as to how to wean your child as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: I thought this book was great. When reading the negative reviews I was sadden that so many mothers feel that they have something to be guilty about. Maybe there is something to that and why they didn't like the book. It really helped me see that the way I wanted to raise my daughter was okay and not strange. Being a real mom and everything that goes along with it. Read the book, check out your local Leche League.
Rating:
Summary: Serious Disappointment
Review: This book provided extremely BASIC information about breastfeeding. When it comes to difficult issues, the book falls flat, simply referring you to a local La Leche League (LLL) chapter for assistance. It is propaganda, as other reviewers have noted, to coerce women into joining LLL. I didn't need to gather with a group of women, collective breasts exposed, to learn how to breastfeed my child, but I would have appreciated some honest, in-depth advice from a group that claims to be so knowledgeable on the subject.
This book was a waste of money.
Rating: 
Summary: A must read - mostly . . .
Review: I read this book before the birth of my first child. The nursing information helped me make a success of a challenging start, and continued to help as my child grew. If you are looking for a "textbook" of nursing technique with some helpful hints for overcoming nursing difficulties, this is a good option.
But there are other aspects of the book that disturb me. For one, it is very value-laden. By that I mean that the book is not really about breastfeeding as much as it is about parenting. It equates sucessful nursing with mothering in a very narrow and limited way. There really is very little room in this book for those moms who work, prefer routined feedings vs. demand feedings, or have any parenting views that differ from the "attachment parenting" paradigm.
Second, there are several statements made without any support or research. One of which was (I'm paraphrasing) that in all of history only one baby has ever been smothered while co-sleeping. I'm assuming they're thinking of the biblical example (king solomon), but anyone who reads the newspaper knows that this statement is absurd. Still, I recommend the book - and it could be especially good for those who are only half-committed to breastfeeding. It certainly gives a persuasave case for it!
Rating:
Summary: A must have reference!
Review: This is a must-have, no-nonsense reference guide for the breastfeeding woman. It was invaluable to me when all the questions arose with my first breastfeeding experience, as well as packed with lots of interesting information that made me understand my body much better.
Rating:
Summary: Fear tactics and Guilt at its best.
Review: The only use I got out of this book was as a doorstop. In the case of difficulties it makes it seem like all you need is determination. It preaches the 'evils' of supplementing and tries to be scientific but fails. Quoting research from the 1920s an 30s does nothing except try to instill the fear of your baby dying. I found much better information and non-judgemental support from my OBs office and my ped. This book was horrible! It didn't offer any useful advice on common breastfeeding problems like Mastitis .. at least nothing useful.
Rating: 
Summary: Pass on this one.
Review: I bought this book at my local LLL meeting. I've read several breastfeeding books and this one was by far the least helpful. I found it to be very negative towards moms who want to return to work, yet this is a group who needs a lot of support to continue breastfeeding! It is also not a good problem solving book. I've been nursing my son for nearly five months now and whenever I've hit stumbing blocks along the way, this book has been of no help. I feel that if you don't have the LLL's ideal arrangement, you might not get the best help from this book. There is some good information in this book, however not enough for its size. The good information it does have is also contained in pretty much all of the other books I've read on this subject, so if you are on a tight budget, you might get more bang for your buck elsewhere. Books I found more helpful and more supportive include "Nursing Mother Working Mother" by Gale Pryor and "Breastfeeding: A Mother's Gift" by Pamela Wiggins and Katherine Dettwyler.
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