Breastfeeding rarely conforms to the idealized Madonna-and-baby image seen in old artwork, now re-cast in celebrity breastfeeding photo spreads and pro-breastfeeding ad campaigns. The personal accounts in Others’ Milk illustrate just how messy and challenging and unpredictable it can be—an uncomfortable reality in the contemporary context of high-stakes motherhood in which “successful” breastfeeding proves one’s maternal mettle. 

Exceptional breastfeeders find creative ways to feed and care for their children—such as by inducing lactation, sharing milk, or exclusively pumping. They want to adhere to the societal ideal of giving them “the best” but sometimes have to face off with dogmatic authorities in order to do so. Kristin J. Wilson argues that while breastfeeding is never going to be the feasible choice for everyone, it should be accessible to anyone.  

Kristin J. Wilson is chair of the anthropology department at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. She is the author of Not Trying: Infertility, Childlessness, and Ambivalence.

— "8 O'Clock Buzz," WORT

— WAMC "51%"

— Jennifer Reich, author of Fixing Families: Parents, Power, and the Child Welfare System and Calling the Shots: Why P

— Alison Bartlett, author of Breastwork: Rethinking Breastfeeding

— Choice

— Washington Post

— Radio Health Journal "Exceptional Breastfeeding" show

— Jefferson Public Radio, "Jefferson Exchange"

— KHSU "Through the Eyes of Women"