The Fed Is Best Book The Fed Is Best Book
About Fed Is Best
From the founders of the Fed Is Best Foundation, this comprehensive and compassionate guide offers a revolutionary look at what defines “best” infant feeding for every family.
For babies, like for all living things, fed is best. But the current stringent emphasis on exclusive breastfeeding is putting some babies at risk by depriving parents of a full understanding of how to tell when breastfeeding alone is not enough—and what to do about it.
Written by healthcare professionals, this guide details the science behind why making sure a baby is fully fed with breast milk, formula, or both is the most important goal of any infant feeding regimen. It provides inclusive, judgment-free practical advice that will help any new parent make informed choices and feel empowered, not shamed, about how they feed their baby. This groundbreaking book debunks widely taught myths about breastfeeding and formula feeding and destigmatizes supplementation, a practice that has been employed throughout human history to protect infants when breastfeeding was not enough.
In addition to the valuable resources offered within the book, there are QR codes throughout that lead to a FREE online universe of infant feeding resources.
Let Fed Is Best help you find the feeding method that’s right for you and your baby—whether that’s exclusive breastfeeding, exclusive formula feeding, or anything in between.
To learn more about the Fed Is Best Foundation, click on the “Fed Is Best” button below. To preview the Fed Is Best Online Resource Page, click on the “Resources” button below.
Praise for Fed Is Best
Why should you read Fed Is Best?
What You'll Find
- Reviews the history of breastfeeding and bottle-feeding and how supplementation has long been used to protect babies when breast milk was not enough
- Breaks down the dangers of insufficient feeding in infants—and how to recognize and prevent them
- Reveals myths around breastfeeding and formula feeding, and the expectation that nearly all mothers will produce all the milk their baby needs as long as they follow current guidelines
- Discusses the global rise in newborn hospitalizations for insufficient feeding complications as a result of the push to promote exclusive breastfeeding for nearly all families
- Provides detailed guidance on how to ensure your baby is getting enough to eat, particularly in those crucial first few days after birth
- Destigmatizes supplementation, a practice employed throughout human history to protect infants when their mother’s milk wasn’t enough—and shares strategies that encourage continued breastfeeding
- Details what parents need to know about breastfeeding, combination feeding, and pumped milk feeding with sample schedules to help maintain milk supply and help parents get more sleep
- Provides inclusive, evidence-based guidance on formula and bottle feeding that has been shown to improve infant health outcomes
- Emphasizes the importance of mental health as a key consideration when finding your best infant feeding method
From Pediatrician and Cofounder of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
The term breastfeeding morbidity should be an oxymoron! Yet far too many newborns continue to unnecessarily suffer medical complications due to our zealous societal promotion of exclusive breastfeeding from birth. The fact is that a substantial percentage of nursing mothers do not produce sufficient milk in the first postpartum days to fully nourish their newborns. Furthermore, a large subset of newborns is not yet able to nurse effectively in the first weeks of life. The result has been an ongoing, unacceptable rise in hospital readmissions of newborns suffering complications of underfeeding, sometimes with irreversible medical consequences. Other new parents are unable to eventually establish or maintain an adequate milk supply over time.
The prevalence of insufficient milk not only undermines exclusive and extended breastfeeding, but it also contributes to unacceptable breastfeeding-related morbidities, including neonatal hospitalizations for excessive infant weight loss, dehydration, jaundice, and low blood sugar, as well as triggering profound maternal grief and self-blame. Despite this alarming reality, new breastfeeding parents routinely receive misguided warnings about the “risks of feeding formula” to their underfed babies. In Fed Is Best, Dr. Christie del Castillo-Hegyi, Jody Segrave-Daly, and Lynnette Hafken adeptly make the compelling case that providing adequate nutrition to your baby is far superior to underfeeding an infant solely with human milk.
Fed Is Best outlines everything expectant and new parents need to know about ensuring that their newborn continues to receive adequate nutrients after birth to optimize each baby’s development, satisfy their hunger, and keep them healthy and thriving. Whether you plan to nurse your baby, feed formula, or do both, Fed is Best provides all the judgment-free guidance you need to ensure that being “adequately fed is best” for your baby’s ultimate welfare and for your peace of mind!
— Marianne Neifert, MD, FAAP
About Us
Meet the Authors
Christie del Castillo-Hegyi, MD is a board-certified emergency physician and one of the Cofounders of the Fed Is Best Foundation. Her own breastfeeding experience led her to discover the fundamental flaws of how breastfeeding was being taught to parents and how it was causing them to not recognize serious complications of underfeeding, like jaundice, dehydration, and hypoglycemia. She has published on and spoken in medical conferences about their long-term consequences and how to change parent education and hospital guidelines to ensure safe and sufficient feeding for all infants. The Fed Is Best Foundation’s work has gained global media attention and it’s message has resonated with hundreds of thousands of families as well as health professionals across the globe.
Jody Segrave-Daly, RN and IBCLC-Retired is one of the Cofounders and Executive Director of the Fed Is Best Foundation. She recognized during her over 30-year career as a newborn ICU nurse and lactation consultant how parents were being led to underfeed their breastfed infants to the point of needing hospitalization; and that it could have been prevented with supplementation when their infants showed signs of persistent hunger. She saw how promoting breastfeeding by vilifying formula was leading to infant harm and maternal mental health problems. She has sought to change the standard of infant feeding support to prioritize the health and well-being of the birthing parent and baby, and to be more inclusive of the vast diversity of biological, psychological, and social circumstances that make “best” infant feeding different for every family.
Lynnette Hafken, MA, IBCLC is Director of Support Services of the Fed Is Best Foundation. As a former La Leche League leader and hospital and private practice lactation consultant, she has spent her over 20-year career helping families to breastfeed in a safe, enjoyable, and sustainable way; in some cases, supporting parents who need or choose to formula feed to ensure their baby and family thrive. She saw how low milk supply and insufficient feeding problems were causing unnecessary physical and emotional suffering in babies and their mothers, which led her to adopt the “fed is best” philosophy. Through her clinical and foundation work, she has sought to advance the core values of Fed Is Best by listening to parents, honoring their choices, and protecting their babies with empathy and scientific integrity.
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