International Womens Day!

In honor of International Women's Day Indigogo has kicked off a week of highlighting causes that empower women and My Campaign is part of this special event! As a gift to all my supporters I'm publishing a small portion of the book I'm raising funds to edit and publish here today. Please be sure to visit my campaign page and donate if you can, today March 3 Indiegogo will give me an extra $1 from Indiegogo for every $25 I receive. Every dollar counts so please feel free to share widely, we only have a few more hours to go! If you cannot donate today don't fret. Sharing the campaign and "liking" it from the campaign page all helps my campaign become more visible and thus provide more opportunities for it to reach it's goal.

Without further ado...here is the first excerpt of my upcoming guide to breastfeeding!





Lunar Mama's Guide to Breastfeeding:


1. Introduction - Why this book was written.
2. Getting to know your Boobs: How they work and why.
3. How to establish a great nursing relationship - The first hours
4. 10 tips for getting the juices flowing (including a note on pumping).
5. Fennel Tea Recipe for nursing mamas.
6. How to support mama and baby during the first 6 weeks and beyond
7. Long term or "full term" breastfeeding.
8. Troubleshooting your tits: Dealing with common issues.
9. Legalese - How to access rights as a breastfeeding mother.
10. Re/sources



Introduction - Why this book was written:
Welcome to Lunar Mama's Guide to Breastfeeding. My Name is Kait Moon, aka Lunar Mama, and I'm a breastfeeding advocate and a breastfeeding mama. As of the writing of this book I am still breastfeeding my two-year-old twins. Breastfeeding each of my four children has been the hardest job I've had as a parent and the most physically demanding thing I've ever experienced.

No one tells you it could be like that.

Breastfeeding is natural and normal and healthy and wonderful, but for many, it's hard as hell. Our modern society rarely gives us the information and support we need to successfully breastfeed and as mothers we are often told we are not fit to breastfeed either by off handed comments, the push to formula-feed by well meaning but misinformed family, friends and birth workers that believe that breast milk is not truly valuable and is easily replaced. It is not. Breast milk is impossible to substitute. Formula is a lifesaving thing, when medically indicated, such as when a woman cannot truly provide milk for her child, but there are also risks and side effects of using formula for children and mothers. Many of these can be avoided by putting your baby to your breasts. Breastfeeding can reduce risk of Post Partum Depression (PPD), Post Partum Psychosis and breast cancer in mother. It helps contract the uterus after birth and can prevent hemorrhage, it initiates secure bonding for mama and baby, colonizes baby's newly-in-use digestive tract for optimal immune defense, reduces asthma, SIDS, and food allergy risk. It serves as a secondary immune system while baby is growing as our immune systems are not fully mature until nearly three years of age. Long term breastfeeding helps brain development, reduces risks of type 2 diabetes and risk of overweight in both mama and baby as it provides optimal nutrition specifically designed by your body for your specific child based on its daily caloric and nutritional needs. Formula can do none of that. It can save lives and does but it is not a substitute for what your body can do.

These pages are a culmination of eight years of breastfeeding experience, almost two decades of study in herbal and natural health care, countless hours of conversations with breastfeeding mothers, peer counseling sessions and hundreds of hours of research. That said, the information is really very simple and is probably already something you know to be true in your own heart; Women are beautifully equipped to breastfeed their children. The key to success often lies in providing information, tools and support that such an important and often challenging task require. Sadly this support and information is rarely provided to new mothers at one of the most crucial times in their lives, the first few hours and days of New Motherhood.

The goal of this book is to provide tips, tricks and easy to understand information how to establish, reestablish and maintain good milk supply for new mothers. There are also resources at the end that will help you continue to access new and vital info on breastfeeding including how to induce lactation for adoptive mothers, information on pumping, accessing state and federal laws that protect your rights, and where to find good support locally when you experience setbacks that are beyond the scope of this book.