Book review: Permission to Mother

For those of you who have struggled to find a breastfeeding-friendly doctor, you may want to consider moving to Florida. 

That's where Dr. Denise Punger practices as a family practice physician and a lactation consultant.  Her book, Permission to Mother, tells the story of her journey from wide-eyed medical student to physician who encourages and supports breastfeeding, babywearing, doulas, and other attachment parenting practices. 

This book is not a breastfeeding manual, like others I've reviewed, but is a memoir of Denise's initiation into the worlds of traditional and mother-centered care for pregnant and postpartum women. Denise recalls getting no training in breastfeeding management in medical school (though she did receive a lecture on formula feeding), and this book chronicles the learning and 'un-learning' that led her to embrace breastfeeding medicine.

Through short chapters she tells the stories of her three births (two in hospital, one at home), her connection to a community of doulas and midwives, her experiences with extended nursing, and tandem nursing (her middle child tandem nursed with both her first and third sons).

The first half of this book concerns birth; second half covers breastfeeding (both personal experience and her medical practice), and other topics like homeschooling, slings, and co-sleeping.  It ends with notes from some of her patients.

Her passion for these topics, and particularly for advocating for mothers to receive 'permission to mother' in ways that may challenge traditional medical practices, is clear and made particularly salient by her repeated use of her own personal experience.

Denise's story includes pictures of her pregnant and even giving birth to her footling breech baby.  By telling her birth and breastfeeding stories, this book blurs the boundaries between doctor and patient, which, in the case of such personal topics as birth and breastfeeding, is very powerful.  In our increasingly impersonal medical system, it's a rare opportunity to see a physician as patient, mother, and human being who learns and grows with experience.  I was fortunate to have heard the birth story of my nurse midwife, and I found myself thinking how lucky Denise's patients are to know so much about her before joining her practice. 

I enjoyed getting to know Denise through this book.  I'd imagine that anyone with an interest in birth and breastfeeding would, too.

Want to get email updates from the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog?  Subscribe here.  Want an RSS feed?  Click here.