Fresh Milk by Fiona Giles

I just finished reading Fresh Milk: The Secret Life of Breasts by Fiona Giles. Darryl gave it to me for Christmas and it is touted as "Provacative and insightful, surprising and occasionally irreverent, Fresh Milk is a lactation primer for the twenty-first century" (Hope Edelman). This is definitely not your typical guide to breastfeeding. In fact, it's not a guide at all. This is a collection of essays, stories, poems, and quotes about all aspects of breastfeeding -- including aspects you never knew existed! Giles sent out questionaires to hundreds of people regarding breastfeeding and this book is the result of her research. She adapted some of the responses to a short story format, while others she simply printed as they were. It covers issues such as breastfeeding other people's children, wet nursing, breastfeeding and sexuality, lactation porn, weaning, breastfeeding failures, etc. About the wide range of topics included in her work, Giles concludes: "The stories in this book reach toward a wider, and a wilder, space in which breastfeeding might more freely ebb and flow. They also express a wish to be safe, a basic need that any creature might feel while tending its young. . . . The power of a story is to create a wilderness territory that is also safe---where unorthodox acts, like feeding kittens, making breastmilk ice cream, advertising for a wet nurse, or becoming a breastfeeding father, appear commonplace. These are not feasible in everyone's life, but they contribute to our imaginary possibilities, and to the reservoir of knowledge about the human body as a producer of milk." Giles is committed to breaking boundaries and making breastfeeding more acceptable in our culture. And while I am not personally one to join the La Leche league, I have not shied away from nursing Zeke in public, nor will I with my future children. Breastfeeding is a natural nursing act that should be cleared of the taboo that seems to surround it. Hooray for Fiona Giles in publishing this work that is at times bordering on the scandalous. I will be passing it along to friends who breastfeed, and even some that don't. It's an eye-opening piece of writing on a topic that deserves more attention.