On the Birth of Musings on Mothering - By Teika Bellamy

La Leche League are an organisation that is very dear to me. It was a haven of sense when Maya was a baby. I felt around friends and in fact it's where I met Becky 5 years late when our boys were babies. 

This compilation of stories and poems, complied by Teika Bellamy is the kind of thing you keep on your feeding chair. Breastfeeding is a great opportunity to catch up on reading and this book also makes a mother feel good about the great work she is doing.

~ Eva

On the Birth of Musings on Mothering - By Teika Bellamy

About five years ago, when my daughter was approaching her first birthday, I picked up the telephone and called my local La Leche League Leader to find out about meetings. The Leader (the wonderful Rachel O’Leary) was friendly and helpful, and I was excited to learn that the group ran toddler meetings alongside their normal meetings and so I counted down the days to that first meeting.

Little did I know then that that phone call would set an alternative life path beneath my feet…



When I attended my first meeting it was as if I had ‘come home’: I had found a place of warmth and understanding and knowing that the other mothers were, like me, ‘mothering through breastfeeding’ was incredibly comforting. I enjoyed the meetings and getting involved with the running of the group, but being a rather bookish mama I wanted to develop my literary skills and somehow do a little bit of fundraising for the charity I do so love…

Last year, on September 28^th, the charity anthology of art, poetry, and prose entitled Musings on Mothering that I edited was published. In the months that followed it was met with numerous glowing reviews , raising funds for LLLGB along the way. But one of the things I have appreciated the most is this: hearing from mothers that the literary, or artistic pieces in the anthology have mirrored their own mothering experiences and that they’ve been able to draw comfort from them. It is wonderful to know that my work in bringing together these contributions about pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding; some sad, some uplifting, some funny (and all beautiful in their own way), has helped mothers to connect with each other. I am so proud to have played a part in making those life-affirming connections.

It took me just under two years to plan and produce Musings on Mothering (whilst learning various publishing-related skills!) and in that time my second child, my little baby, steadily grew into a walking, talking toddler.

As all royalties are being donated to LLLGB, to date nearly £400 has been raised from the sales of the book. I would dearly love it if word would continue to spread about the anthology, because not only does every copy sold raise funds for LLLGB, but it also spreads the message about La Leche League and the beauty (and normality) of mothering through breastfeeding. This Mothers’ Day please do consider buying it as a gift for the mother in your life, or as a gift from your child, or children, to yourself.

Here is a review of the book from the inspiring LLL Leader and IBCLC, April Whincop:

“People don’t live by bread and practicalities alone and mothers are no exception.

Musings on Mothering has stepped up to offer emotional and spiritual nourishment to women, with contributions from women of all ages and at all stages of mothering.

This book has entranced and delighted me with its often exquisite art, poetry and prose. There are pieces that describe the breadth of feelings that belong to mothering, from blissful states to aching sadness. Artwork displays the moods and muddle of parenting; the poetry parades words that capture and acknowledge the everyday matters that, over time, weave together to create a rounded human being.

It’s a massive and often messy task that parents have and it’s easy to lose the beauty and significance of it in the daily round.

This book allows the reader to step back from the busyness for a little while, look at what mothers do - and rightly rejoice in it!”

Musings on Mothering can be bought at the LLLGB Shop: http://www.lllgbbooks.co.uk/product/520/Musings-on-Mothering/default.aspx

Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Musings-Mothering-Pregnancy-Breastfeeding-Anthology/dp/0957385803/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358101420&sr=8-1

Or through the publisher’s online store: mothersmilkbooks.gostorego.com  where it can be bought at the price of £13.99.

The YouTube trailer gives a glimpse into the book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pIwZ0_UHTU

Here is a beautiful example of one of the entries:

The Daffodils

by Marija Smits

The daffodils

Amongst the rills

Of water make

A scene to take

A nature lover's breath away.

 

And though the day

Will come when I

With adult eye

Will ponder, gaze

Upon that haze

Of yellow-green,

I'm still not keen

To shift my sights

To the delights

Of daffodils and springtime balm.

 

My mother's arm

Is all I need;

A milky feed,

Her shining face.

No other place

Provides such bliss;

She crowns me with a tender kiss.

 

by Marija Smits

marijasmits.wordpress.com



Mother, child, daffodils ©
A painting by Kathy Grossman