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What's in The Mother's mailbagIn the mailbag of TM29 - 2008Huge congratulations on how well you've been doing with TM. What
a journey!!! A truly inspirational magazine. When it arrives in the post, everything
else can wait! Spring greetings from sunny south Cumbria. Our family would love
to meet The Mother readers and their offspring. Will you kindly
add our wish in the next issue? We’re looking forward to your
email. Thank you very much. Happy April/May - whatever! E-mail: littlemisferrit@yahoo.co.uk for location & info. We love the magazine, keep up the great work. Best wishes, Can you put a notice in TM about baby clothes and stuff? I still
have stacks of it. Visit www.vaccineriskawareness.com on the second-hand
baby clothes and cloth nappies page. I've got organic baby clothes
and tots bots nappy covers, rainbow stripe and polka dots. I've
got some slings my friend gave me to sell, etc. Dear Veronika, This was me - failed breastfeeder to my first two babes both born
before The Mother magazine. Lewis & Katie, I am so sorry, if
only I knew. Both were fed from my breasts for only a few short
weeks. In the mailbag of TM28 - 2008I subscribed to your magazine from the first issue, when I was pregnant with my first child Helix. After my second child, Lila, and on leaving the UK in June 2006, I stopped subscribing feeling 1.) I had grown out of it, my children now being older; and 2.) not having an address, as we planned to travel around Europe. On returning to the UK recently, a friend gave me back issues
that I hadn’t received. What a joy! Delighted by the colour
on the front cover, and by the new frequency with which they came
out, The Mother again did seem relevant to my life as a natural-living
home educator. So, at last, after years of ideas for articles for
the magazine, I am finally sitting with enough head space in our
warm yurt to write. Dear Barry, another wonderful issue! I continue to be impressed,
and have just enjoyed seeing you through your daughter's eyes. As a single, breastfeeding, baby-carrying mother of my beautiful
14 month old, I know no-one else with the same beliefs except for
The Mother. You ease my isolation. Dear Veronika, I notice you also published Babaji's words in TM27 - I wonder
how these words came to you? My family are Babaji devotees, and
my husband tours around Europe and the UK playing Babaji's music.
Dear Barry, I forgot to say how much I value and anticipate your
and Winnie's articles in The Mother (and Anna's). Your family is
a source of great inspiration to me, I salute you all. I would like to sing the praises of the independent midwife who
looked after my family for the birth of our second son. I could
not have found better care anywhere; she really is one in a trillion,
and I will never forget the difference she has made to our lives.
Her name is Susan Stevenson: I loved Veronika's book, which tallies so strongly with Mother Nature, tragically rejected in our 'civilised' society. It’s not easy going out on a limb, and I greatly admire her courage. If enough people take on board the message, she could lessen violence in forthcoming generations. What a difference to make! I have also been reading Primal Mothering in a Modern World by Hygeia Halfmoon - well worth a read if you haven't come across it yet. (Ed’s note: It is available from www.fresh-network.com) Thank you so much for producing a magazine that is providing courage
to follow our instincts when we come up against conflict from convention. Of course I will re-subscribe. How could I live without my fix
of The Mother? Thanks and love. I'd like to say a very huge, sincere thank you to all of the Rugby Community Midwives - particularly, Marjorie Dalrymple - who assisted the birth of my son, Tom, in September of last year. Marjorie was my ante-natal midwife throughout my pregnancy, but was off-duty the day I went into labour. Actually, there was a greater than expected number of home births
on the day I went into labour, so Jane, who came out to me initially,
was also scheduled to be off-duty. However, she willingly came out
at 4am, and gently and respectfully allowed me the space to prepare
for Tom's arrival. She stayed with me until the change of shift
at 8am, when she contacted Marjorie to let her know I was in labour.
I let my subscription slip from my busy life a year or so ago,
and I often missed the sense of community that exists within The
Mother. I have renewed for 2008, in celebration of the two amazing
and precious souls that have come into our lives: those of my partner,
and our beautiful daughter. Another lesson; that only when you truly
and totally set free the hope of something, does it manifest itself.
How wonderful! I love this magazine! If any readers in the Brighton & Hove
area would like to get in touch my email address is :fmcveigh@yahoo.com
Kaia is six ~ the same age as your magazine, and your words have
been beside me through these last six years ~ her baby days, and
through my next two pregnancies and births! So yet again, I thank
you. Thank you so much for another fantastic issue of The Mother. I
love it. It really does warm the soul on those less than perfect
parenting days! A few years ago, I took Maya on a demo against a Nescafé café in Bristol – she wrote these slogans. I kept them and thought you might like to use them somewhere - I think they are great! Nestlé makes babies ill The more Nestlé promotes baby powder She was about seven at the time. Thank you so much for your wonderful publication. This magazine
is, in large part, the reason for our peaceful home birth last summer.
I never knew I had so many options. It feels wonderful to know I
am not alone in choosing to parent responsively; wanting to meet
the needs of my girls. Thanks again for the wonderful work you do.
I just wanted to mention that I noticed someone’s deodorant
advice in last month’s issue. Although it all seems nice and
natural, the recipe actually uses talc, which is toxic and dangerous
to put on your skin. Talc has been shown to contain asbestos! And
even talc that doesn’t, has problems. Therefore, I would recommend
someone tells the lady asap, as she is putting it straight into
her blood stream. Also – it would be sensible to print the
info in the next issue. But – don’t take my word for
it, see what the Environmental Working Group in the States says
about it: http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/ingredient.php?ingred06=706427¬hanks=1 Dear Barry, Thank you very much for my copy of The Mother and
The Drinks Are On Me. They arrived yesterday—fantastic service! In the mailbag of TM26 - 2008 I subscribe to The Mother and love it, so naturally, I was excited
to see Veronika's new book on sale. I am about to complete my breastfeeding
peer counselling training, and have found it tough some of the time
as a lot of women don't share the same views as me on mothering,
especially through long term breastfeeding. This is why I need The
Mother for support. Although this article (full-term breastfeeding) on www.shazzie.com is nearly two years old, I read it this morning for the first time. I hope this message can be passed along to Veronika Robinson. Her article has entirely changed my perspective on breastfeeding, something I did not think possible. My background: I'm a nurse and lactation consultant (IBCLC) in the US, and I have two children. My first was weaned at two years, eight months. My second is still breastfeeding at three and a half years. I was breastfed until my mother weaned me at four years (against my wishes, I understand). I am happily, VERY happily, breastfeeding my son, a preschooler. It is one of the most enjoyable things in my life, and in his. I have already started to feel a sadness because he is getting older, and that because of his age and size, it will be time to wean him, or that he may self-wean, soon. Even though I am accustomed to shrugging off the odd looks and comments while breastfeeding a toddler, I did not think I would be able to handle odd looks and comments while breastfeeding a preschooler, and especially not for a school-age child. However, after reading your article, I have come to the startling realisation that it is not necessary to wean him. I know, you'd think from my profession and my own experiences, this would be quite evident already. I didn't even know how much anxiety was already present until I read the article, and felt the weight of anticipated weaning lift from me. To be honest, in the past, I was a bit upset by the thought of a six or seven year old breastfeeding. I can't imagine nursing my now six year old daughter. But I can't stand the thought of NOT breastfeeding my son for as long as he desires. Thank you for writing this article, Veronika. In a matter of minutes,
reading your story has changed everything for us. May I say I love The Drinks Are On Me on YouTube…it brought tears to my eyes. Veronika, you are a fabulous woman, reaching out across the world - to express with clarity what many of us have thought. I spent many years feeling frustrated and angry about the reaction I got from some folks - when I breastfed my first child 15 years ago in Liverpool, and felt isolated and old fashioned. Thank God, instinct helped me to carry on. We enjoyed 18 months, my son and I. Please remember daily that you are a Goddess of Light. The way
you use your gentle, feminine side to relay information is lovely.
The chip on my shoulder has taken some years for me dissolve. Blessings
to you all at The Mother magazine I am writing, firstly to say how wonderful your magazine is, and how much pleasure and security it gives me. Since discovering the magazine here in New Zealand, I devour each issue with its informative articles on subjects I feel so strongly about, all validated with scientific, personal or logical references. This clarity, amongst the onslaught of money-making, soulless, misguided parenting 'leadership', is just beautiful. So thank you from the bottom of my heart!! Secondly, I am currently creating a website of positive birth
stories aimed at countering the profit and fear-driven birth industry.
It is my hope that the true stories reflected will give mothers-to-be
the courage to follow their instincts, and have gentle, beautiful,
empowered births. I would appreciate if you could somehow incorporate
the request, with my e-mail address, into the next possible edition! I was shown your magazine a few years ago by a German friend.
I photocopied some articles that grabbed me. Now I'm expecting baby
No.3 (actually due yesterday), so I thought I'd treat myself to
a subscription. Dear Barry, I remember watching the programme early last year (Extraordinary Breastfeeding), and was quite shocked by it. It was one of those programmes that is still talked about today within 'baby' circles! I have since had a baby who is now five months old. I have to tell you that I was very much in the camp of - I will try breastfeeding, but if it doesn't work for me then I won't pursue it. Well, I can tell you that I obviously didn't know myself all that well! Once my son was born we had immediate skin-to-skin contact, and I tried breastfeeding quite early on. It seemed to work a couple of times, but I had really bad problems with breastfeeding whilst I was in hospital. We only stayed for a couple of days, and the midwives topped up my son with formula milk, as they told me he was not getting enough food. I now know how wrong they were, because he was very sick after both top-ups, so this was (in my view) an overload of milk - my milk had been sufficient. I was called back to hospital, as blood tests showed that my son was dehydrated, and we went back to stay the night. It was a truly awful night. The midwives didn't help me in a nice way at all - and I had to express my milk in the end. The following day, the head midwife actually advised me to STOP expressing, and to feed my son FORMULA only! I told her I was choosing to express, as I wanted him to have my milk. I tried to latch him on time and time again, but it wouldn't work, and I had so many emotional problems with breastfeeding. I was obsessed with breastfeeding and everything to do with it. I read all I could, and expressed every three hours without fail - day or night! It was exhausting! I remember the night it all changed for me. My husband was downstairs sorting a bottle of expressed milk, and my son was crying, and I was crying too - just wishing he would latch on and again, I tried, and he almost latched on, and I actually felt that what I was doing was wrong. I honestly believed that breastfeeding was wrong, that I was doing something wrong. This makes me feel very sad now to think back to this time. My husband came upstairs and I quickly unlatched and gave the expressed milk bottle - and kept this feeling to myself. I did tell him the next day, and he supported me so much, telling me not to give up and to keep trying to latch him on. Almost six weeks after I gave birth, my son FINALLY latched on. And I can honestly say we have not looked back. I absolutely LOVE breastfeeding. I think it is, without a doubt, the single most important thing I can do for my baby. I leak still, first thing in the morning, but it has never crossed my mind to stop just because I leak. Before he latched on, he would be very windy, and we would spend ages trying to get a burp up! My life changed once he latched on. He is so happy, so content, so trusting. I truly believe this is due to breastfeeding. I didn't realise how much I wanted to breastfeed until I couldn't do it. I am already feeling the pressure to stop breastfeeding, but I don't want to, and I won't let them get to me. I intend to breastfeed for a while yet, plus my baby is only five months old! A BABY! Apologies for rambling on, but I wanted to tell you my story and how I am so pleased I came across your article. You have inspired me, and I thank you for that. I don't doubt your story was twisted by the media, and I will most definitely set people right when your story comes up. I am extremely pro-breastfeeding, and the hype from the latest media frenzy Bringing Up Baby has made me realise how much so. I was appalled by the comment to the breastfeeding woman "inflicting your breasts upon the public". Absolutely ridiculous! I myself have been at the centre of the disapproving looks, whilst out for coffee with friends, because I was breastfeeding ~ the most natural thing in the world. Because I so desperately wanted to breastfeed, and I read so much, I fully understand what you mean about it being the absolute best milk. I find it amazing that some mothers don't even attempt it. I'm afraid I don't understand why a woman would deny her child such a precious start. I would like to train to become some sort of breastfeeding counselor one day, because it is definitely something I am passionate about. Your comment, "Animal milks are made for animal babies. Cow's milk is designed to build a calf's body very quickly. Goat's milk is designed for a kid." I couldn't agree with you more. I am so pleased that the programme was aired, and that breastfeeding
is being pushed to the forefront of people's minds. Breast milk
is the best milk, and I do believe that it is too important to not
do it. Thank you for sharing your story, and I hope that I am one
of many, many people who you have inspired to continue to breastfeed. The Drinks Are On Me This book is like a warm hug from a close friend. I couldn't put
it down. It's gone straight to the top of my pile of books! Thank you, have received, and am devouring, my copy of The Drinks
Are On Me. I just wanted to say congratulations to Veronika, and all at The
Art of Change, for a fantastic book. I'm halfway through and really
enjoying it, and will recommend it to anyone I know who happens
to be, or thinking about, breastfeeding. I'd also like to say thanks
for the excellent customer service. It's really nice to find people
who really do put their customers first and keep you up to date
on what's happening. Thanks again. Hi Veronika I really love the section on NAK (nursing at keyboard). We didn't have a computer when Kyran was a baby, but there were times I did NAK with Jonah, before I knew of the dangers of electromagnetic radiation, and before I started to understand the true intimacy and sharing of knowledge that breastfeeding provides (thank your for recommending the Anastasia books). I think it is SO important to raise awareness of these issues, and I am glad that I am now able to protect him from this and thoroughly enjoy every breastfeeding moment we share. Kyran was so excited to see the pictures of him and Jonah in the magazine. Thank you for publishing them. If you ever want to use any more of my photos please don't worry about extending my sub any further, we are just happy to see ourselves in our fave mag :) It was wonderful to read that your girls have chosen to return
to home education; selfishly I'm hoping it means the return of the
Radical Unschooling column in TM! You have just made my day!! I just received your book, with your
lovely note on the inside – that was really kind of you, and
makes me wish even more that we lived near each other!!! A friend of mine lent me three copies - that was it, I was hooked! Being a home-birthing, breastfeeding, bed-sharing, baby-wearing
mummy, it’s lovely to find a magazine that is supportive,
which also has valuable, informative, interesting information. Keep
up the good work. Congrats on a fab mag. We just had our first baby and we love your mag!! It's such a fantastic magazine. When friends and family sometimes
look on my ideas as being a bit weird and silly, it's nice to read
The Mother and know that they are not. I just wish more people could be made aware of the magazine and
what it stands for, and that the people who read it/write it/publish
it are NOT just a minority bunch of oddballs, but just give a damn
about their children and the world as a whole. I also think Anna
Durdant-Hollamby is wise beyond her years, and if that is what home
schooling can do - fantastic! Many thanks to you all at The Mother - I would not miss my magazine
for anything, and have learnt such a lot from you all. Your article (Words that Change Lives).... AWESOME in that I picked
it up just when I needed it, and the words just HIT ME....So I keep
reading it, reading it, reading it,..and I DON'T THINK, but let
the words sink in and see what happens... If we all keep singing the same song it will become a chorus.
I look forward to each copy and feel it validates me as a mum. I love those girls of yours, and I love that you give voice to
my thoughts. I have been on such an amazing journey these past two
weeks; most of all I've realised that my daughter needs to be allowed
to slow right down, be collected together, and held. School has
scattered her, confused her, and filled the space between her ears
with economic crap. Hi, just a quick note to say I received your magazine a few days
ago. What a fantastic read it is. I shall definitely be putting
in a subscription very soon, postal strike or not. Well done. What
wonderful people you are. At last, someone on my wavelength! More Letters |
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