The 5 years since the publication of the seventh

edition of this excellent book have been a time of

incredible advances in understanding several previously

unknown physiologic and behavioral processes

directly linked to or associated with breastfeeding

and beautifully described in this new volume.

These findings change our view of the motherinfant

relationship and signal an urgent need to

completely review present perinatal care procedures.

These new research results include the observation

that, when an infant suckles from the breast, there

is a large outpouring of 19 different gastrointestinal

hormones, including cholecystokinin, gastrin, and

insulin, in both mother and infant. Several of these

hormones stimulate the growth of the baby’s and

the mother’s intestinal villi, thus increasing the surface

area for the absorption of additional calories

with each feeding. The stimulus for these changes

is touching the nipple of the mother or the inside

of the infant’s mouth. T