This is a fantastic and easy-to-read guide to breastfeeding that is down-to-earth -- like talking to your best friend -- and gives all the knowledge a new mom needs to know in order to successfully nurse.

Lactivate! is an awesome book that is so needed in our world today! I love that this book offers the education and support that mother's who are trying to nurse their baby's need. I highly recommend this book. It would make a wonderful gift.

Just an update! I am thoroughly enjoying this book. It's a great refresher course (little less scientific) from my OB nursing school days, and I can see how extremely handy it would be as a reference to quick answers for breastfeeding mothers.

Full review to come!

Update:
(Warning: We will be talking about boobies here!)

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/474x/e1/fa/9a/e1fa9a01c102d72c7de81efb973d4fcb--blue-footed-booby-blue-footed-bird.jpg"/>

Nope. Not that kind of booby.

<img src="http://images.agoramedia.com/wte3.0/gcms/breast-engorgement-updated-722x406.jpg?width=414"/>

Engorged postpartum boobies/breasts. Yes, I know those are melons in the above^^^ picture (And your breasts will feel like foreign objects attacked to your chest with a mind of their own, during this time), but I highly doubt I would allow me to post a picture of, heavily laden with milk, breasts.

It is a great weight and a heavy burden us women must carry, but God (or whoever you believe or don’t believe in) provided us with the anatomy to perform this role/service.

<b>Whether or not you plan on breastfeeding ur infant is your choice!</b> And no one should judge you for your plan of action. Who knows... you may not be able to breastfeed because of medications, lack of milk, demanding work requirements, health, or whatever other reasonable explanation you may have. But I will say, breastmilk is turning out to be one of the best elixirs of life. Do your research, and see what your options are.

I mean… why on earth would we put our adipose tissue riddled with a rich supply of nerves (and a nerve plexus under it) into another humans mouth (sex jokes aside)???
<b>BOTTOM LINE:</b> Our breasts are very sensitive, and we are forcing them to endure latching, sucking, swallowing, feeding, and (sometimes) biting discomfort/pain. And these little beasts (we call children) can start to teeth around 3 months, and can develop their 1st baby tooth at 6 months. OUCH!

<img src="https://ugc-01.cafemomstatic.com/gen/constrain/740/1500/75/2018/04/18/13/en/7j/ph4dgyl3402qbwe.png"/>

However, there are some (many) benefits to breastfeeding that scientific research supports.

<b>
1) Breast Milk Provides Excellent Nutrition for Babies
2) Breast Milk Provides Significant Antibodies for the Developing Infant Immunity (Formula does not provide antibodies and thus, babies who are not breastfed are more vulnerable to pneumonia and other health issues/infections)
3) Breast Milk Promotes a Healthy Weight for Baby
4) Breastfeeding May Make Children Smarter
5) Breastfeeding May Reduce Disease Risk
6) Breastfeeding May Help Momma Lose Weight (SCORE! *jumps for joy*)
7) Breastfeeding Helps the Uterus Contract
8) Breastfeeding Mothers Have a Lower Risk of Postpartum Depression (Thank you Oxytocin!)
9) Breastfeeding Reduces Momma’s Disease Risk (ex. breast/ovarian cancer, and etc)
10) Breastfeeding May Suspend a Mother’s Menstruation (Finally a break from TOM)
11) Breastfeeding Saves Time and $$$ (it’s FREE)
- (Bjarnadottir, 2017)

12) Exclusively Breastfed Infants Have a Reduced Susceptibility to Malaria, and Those Infected May Experience a Reduction in Overall Disease Burden. (Brazeau et al., 2016 )
13) Breastfeeding Can Reduce Carbon Emissions… equivalent to reducing road traffic by 50,000 to 77,500 cars each year! (Joffe et al., 2019)
14) GML in Breast Milk Inhibits Pathogenic Bacteria while Allowing Beneficial Bacteria to Thrive (Leung, 2019)
15) Breast Milk May Prevent Heart Disease In Premature Infants (EL-Khuffash et al., 2019)

16) etc. etc. etc. </b>
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3oEduHtj48HSfeh89W/giphy.gif"/>

<img src="https://ugc-01.cafemomstatic.com/gen/constrain/740/1500/75/2015/04/01/15/1s/wb/phgxq4sxms1.png"/>

<i>“The purpose of this book is to give you some quick references and resources to demystify breastfeeding without bogging you down in the process.”</i>

<b>AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT DOES!!!</b>

To the point information and illustrations can be easily found throughout the book.

Jill Krause, a breastfeeding mom of four with 95 months of experience, and Chrisie Rosenthal, a board-certified lactation consultant with children of her own and 10 professional years of experience, did an excellent job in writing this helpful breastfeeding troubleshooting tips and tricks reference guide.

I found this book incredibly informative, and much of the content matched that which I learned in nursing school. The easy to understand descriptions, statistics, and “PRO TIPS” and tricks were excellent!

The “Postpartum Support International” phone number provided (800) 944-4773 was a FABULOUS (and much needed) addition to the book. The authors not only talked about breastfeeding, but of the mental burden that can befall mothers during this critical time of their lives.

And unlike my old nursing school books, the helpful tips (ex. apps) that can be used to help aid women in the breastfeeding process were EXCEPTIONAL!

<b>“At the time of writing this book, two of the most popular breastfeeding tracking apps are Baby Feed Timer and Baby Tracker. Both are available in the Apple Store and Google Play.”</b>

This book doesn’t gloss over the complex job that is breastfeeding (like many other books do), but instead makes this healthy, yet challenging, task more down to earth and successfully achievable.

This book is beyond fabulous, and should be in the hands of every 1st time mother learning how to breastfeed! Even experienced mothers would learn a thing or two from the information within its pages.

<i>***Special thanks to NetGalley, Callisto Media, Jill Krause, and Chrisie Rosenthal, for sharing this ARC COPY with me in exchange for my honest review***</i>

Overall Rating → <b>5 STARS</b>
Price is Right? → YES! Kindle version $6.99 RN on Amazon. Paperback $14.56. Also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Would I recommend? → YES! This will definitely be my next go-to present for all my pregnant friends and family.
Would I re-read? → YES!
Would I read more from these authors? → MOST DEFINITELY!

<img src="http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/ehafkenscheid/Mobile%20Uploads/63fcd1af-c2b8-4068-bc6d-63a555aa5b75_zpscohx5mzj.jpg">

~*~*~*~*~*~Just for your enjoyment 😉~*~*~*~*~*~
<img src="https://ugc-01.cafemomstatic.com/gen/constrain/740/1500/75/2015/04/01/15/7y/bn/phq6jdx2801.png"/>
<img src="https://ugc-01.cafemomstatic.com/gen/constrain/740/1500/75/2018/04/11/21/3f/ph/ph25x4u2ec2qbwe.png"/>
<img src="https://ugc-01.cafemomstatic.com/gen/constrain/740/1500/75/2018/04/18/14/1n/16/phztjzir5w2qbwe.png"/>
<img src="https://ugc-01.cafemomstatic.com/gen/constrain/740/1500/75/2018/04/18/15/5y/w4/phwwj2id4w2qbwe.png"/>
<img src="https://ugc-01.cafemomstatic.com/gen/constrain/740/1500/75/2018/04/11/21/35/1g/phu0fhzbi82qbwe.png"/>

This review was added to Goodreads & Amazon.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3127756883?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I'm thankful to the publisher and to Netgalley for an ARC of Lactivate! It's short enough to act as a quick reference guide to new and breastfeeding mothers, but packs a ton of information as well!