Journal of Human Lactation

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Book Review: Inventing Maternity: Politics, Science, and Literature (1650-1865)

Virginia Thorley
J Hum Lact 2000; 16; 248
DOI: 10.1177/089033440001600317
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248

Reviews

vides insight, guidance, and support for the woman who

is thinking about or has chosen to breastfeed her infant
into toddlerhood. Originally published in 1980, the children Bumgarner wrote about now have children of their
own. But the nurturing relationship that results from
prolonged nursing discussed here will no doubt continue to capture the interest of nursing mothers.
The book looks beyond the how and why of nursing
past one year and advocates a style of parenting where
mothers are available to their babies. The title itself clarifies that this book is about mothering toddlers rather
than breastfeeding them.
Bumgarner cites biological, cultural, and historical
evidence in support of breastfeeding older children and
throughout shares stories of families with whom she has
been involved. The chapters include pertinent topics
such as pregnancy and tandem nursing, nursing and
weight gain, and coping with family pressures. There is
also a chapter for each year, including age four and
beyond.
Her tone in the section on employment away from
home is not supportive of the working mother, and she
spends most of the time examining alternatives to work.
A discussion of the guilt and of the stress on the child
paves the way for the particulars of dealing with this
separation and maintaining the nursing relationship.
The last 40 pages are dedicated to weaning, which is
something you can forget about . . . in your own best
interests and your childs (p. 259). Unfortunately,
because of a significant gap in research in this domain,
this section is the least well referenced. Instead, she uses
experiences from some mothers (sometimes discounting those of others) as well as her own for weaning
advice. Some Time-Honored or (Time-Worn?)
Approaches to Weaning (e.g., weaning by abandonment, the spicy burrito method, the return of Frankensteins monster) will be received differently by readers
depending on their state of receptivity, but will leave no
one with a neutral opinion.
Bumgarner has filled a gap in resources for mothers
of nursing toddlers. Mothers who are making the choice
to nurse beyond the first year will find answers to their
questions and support for their decision.
Teri Shilling, MS, IBCLC
Gunnison, Colorado USA

J Hum Lact 16(3), 2000

Inventing Maternity: Politics, Science, and Literature (1650-1865)

Susan C. Greenfield and Carol Barash, editors
University Press of Kentucky, 1999
274 pages(US)$35hardcover
Orders: University Press of Kentucky, 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40508-4008 USA
Tel: (606) 257-8761
This scholarly volume argues that 20th-century concepts of the full-time mother as the ideal were invented
in the 18th century and traces its development during the
period from 1650 to 1865. Medical texts, political
tracts, religious writings, poetry, novels, slave narratives, conduct books, and cookbooks are analyzed based
on feminist, cultural, and postcolonial theories. This
anthology examines central debates on motherhood,
from fetal development to child rearing, and traces their
development.
Early in this period, the woman defined her pregnancy because she alone could report the quickening, or
fetal movement, by which pregnancy was officially confirmed. Only later would others control pregnancy diagnosis. Controversy existed about whether a womans
thoughts and actions could damage the fetus, a controversy seen today in America in prosecutions of women
for prenatal substance abuse. Medical texts moved from
presenting womens bodies as inferior versions of mens
to seeing them as essentially maternal (p. 5). Thus,
Cadogan and other 18th-century medical writers represented breastfeeding as the mothers biological responsibility. Although the father had authority over how the
baby was to be fed, Augustan conduct books provided
an alternative authority on correct behavior, glorifying
female domestic authority (p. 12) and portraying
maternal breastfeeding as the ultimate indicator of
maternal virtue (p. 142). However, slave and lowerclass mothers lacked the freedom to be full-time mothers because they were forced to leave their babies to
work in the fields.
Later chapters examine preoccupations with fertility
and population control in the late 18th to mid-19th centuries, including infanticide, law, poverty, and issues of
race, colonialism, and nationalism.
Although the basic premise of this book is not new, it
provides further insights into the origins of modern con-

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J Hum Lact 16(3), 2000

Reviews

cepts of motherhood, including infant feeding, through

the filters of history, sociology, and feminism.
Virginia Thorley, OAM, IBCLC
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Breastfeeding and Complementary Infant Feeding,
and the Postpartum Effects of Breastfeeding. DHS
Comparative Studies No. 30.
Patricia A. Haggerty and Shea O. Rutstein
Macro International, 1999
282 pagesgraphs and tablessingle copy free of
chargesoftcover.
Orders: Macro International Inc., 11785 Beltsville
Drive, Suite 300, Calverton, MD 20705 USA
Tel: (301) 572-0200; Fax: (301) 572-0999
URL: www.macroint.com/dhs/
This volume reports demographic and health surveys
and World Fertility Survey data from 37 national surveys representing more than 250,000 children. The purpose is to describe similarities and differences between
countries to highlight the needs of subgroups and policy
development. It covers breastfeeding, complementary
infant feeding, and the postpartum effects of breastfeeding, most notably lactation amenorrhea.
This book is a gold mine of data on breastfeeding
rates and duration, complementary feeding practices,
and lactation amenorrhea for individual countries. The
sections are primarily data presented in tables and figures with brief narratives to help the reader navigate and
digest the volumes of information. Differences among
the regions are described (Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia,
Near East/North Africa, and Latin America/Caribbean).
It is encouraging to note the overall trend of increasing numbers of infants being breastfeed in these developing countries. For example, breastfeeding rates of
infants 12 to 15 months and 20 to 23 months increased
9% and 7%, respectively, between 1990 and 1996. However, several departures from policy are identified. In a
number of cultures, infants are not put to breast until
after 2 days of life. Another area causing concern is the
large number of children who receive complementary
foods too early or too late. Infants receive complementary foods as early as 1 to 3 months in 13 countries, and
the number of infants receiving complementary foods
by 6 months ranges from 12% in Brazil to 93% in the
Central African Republic and Zimbabwe.

249

In general, the period of lactation amenorrhea

increases with maternal age, education, and birth order.
Lactation amenorrhea is four months longer in rural
areas than in urban areas. An overall decrease in median
lactation amenorrhea of 0.5 months (decadal rate) has
been observed in developing countries. That this
decrease has occurred despite increases in breastfeeding duration may represent changes in breastfeeding
intensity. Surprisingly, the relationship between frequency of nursing and amenorrhea is not the same
across countries. This variability is surprising for what
was thought to be a biodemographic relationship.
This reference seems most suitable for international
researchers and policy makers.
Maureen A. Murtaugh, PhD, RD
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
The Mask of Motherhood: How Becoming a Mother
Changes Everything and Why We Pretend It Doesnt
Susan Maushart
304 pages(US)$24hardcover
Orders: The New Press, 450 West 41st Street, New
York, NY 10036 USA
Tel: 1-800-233-4830 (toll-free) or (212) 629-8081; Fax:
(212) 629-8617
URL: www.thenewpress.com
Maushart, whose doctorate is in communication arts
and sciences, posits that the postfeminist culture
trivializes the impact of motherhood on a womans life.
This mask of motherhood hides the facts that mothering is both more significant and more difficult than
women are led to believe. This difference between
expectation and reality leads to a pervasive feeling of
inadequacy and anxiety among todays mothers. The
book traces these ideas through their origins in patriarchy and feminist thought and examines womens complicity in maintaining the mask and the social structures
that cause them to bear the majority of the familys psychological burden and unpaid labor.
The chapters on pregnancy and birth read like a
stand-up (comedy) routine whose hyperbole resonates
with underlying truth. Superwoman and Stuporman:
Parenthood and Partnership examines the effects of
parenthood on marriages and the division of labor, proposing that specialization in tasks is efficient but does
not have to be drawn along traditional gender roles.

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