Book

"Permission to Mother is an account of one doctor's personal journey into motherhood. She seeks the best possible choices including exhilarating birth experiences and breastfeeding beyond current societal norms, and explains how her personal choices affected her professional choices on her quest to find a more baby and woman-centered approach to birth and breastfeeding."  ~ La Leche League International

"I am so grateful that a medical doctor has stepped outside the tired and dangerous old protocols to truly give us mothers "permission" to connect with our babies in low-intervention, highly nurturing ways."   ~By Robyn Openshaw-pay (AKA--Greensmoothiegirl.com)


 
Permission To Mother --Find it on Amazon HERE!
by Denise Punger MD FAAFP IBCLC

(Also available in the office and at Permission to Mother  Events)


Table of Contents

FOREWORD by Bernadette Clark RN CD(DONA)

PREFACE

PART 1 – CHILDBIRTH AS I EXPERIENCED IT

Labor & Delivery in Medical School 5

Family Medicine with Obstetrics 15

Childbirth – It’s My Turn 23

My First Labor 25

Pregnant a Year Later 29

Birth with a Doula 31

Finding Breastfeeding Medicine 35

My Friend’s Surprise Homebirth 37

Healthier Images of Pregnancy 41

Bernadette’s 11th Blessing 43

Another Missed Homebirth 47

Getting Ready for My Own Homebirth 49

“It’s Toes!” 61

A Letter to My Third Son 67

The “Awesome and Powerful” Experience of Rumping 69

The Cost of a Doula 73

A Twin Homebirth 77

Permission to Birth 81

Doctor, Mother and Political Advocate 85



PART 2 – THE BREASTFEEDING YEARS

Breastfeeding Didn’t Come Natural 95

Nursing in Public 99

Nursing After Conception 101

Tandem Nursing, One Day at a Time 103

On Weight Gain 107

A Case for the Family Bed 109

More About Our Family Bed 111

Tub Time 113

Sling Musings 115

Switching to Cloth 119

A Word about Wipes 123

A Visit to the Pediatrician 125

Scott in the Middle 127

Surviving Anesthesia 131

My Spiritual Journey as Physician, Mother and IBCLC 133

To My Sons: How You Were Named 137

Unexpected Benefits of Breastfeeding 141

Comfortable With My Body Through Breastfeeding 143

Working and Breastfeeding 145

Kids at Work with Mom 149

Homeschooling: The First Year 153

Unschooling: The Second Year 157

Lifetime of Learning 163



PART 3 – BREASTFEEDING MEDICINE: MORE THAN PERMISSION

Baby Shower Gift 171

Just say NO to Formula Company Diaper Bags 173

Is it Worth Breastfeeding My Newborn All Night 175

How Dads (and Grandparents) Can Show Support 177

“I could not breastfeed because…” 179

Sarah’s Thyroid 181

Failure to Thrive 183

Not Enough Milk? 185

Nursing an Adopted Baby 187

Donating Human Milk 189

All in a Day’s Work 191

Breastfeeding and Birth Control 193

Freeing the Infant Tongue 195

Second Opinion on Jaundice 199

How Long Before Supplementing a Newborn? 201

First Latch at Six Weeks 203

Another NICU Graduate 207

A Positive PKU 211

Screening Tests: Not Worth Triple the Trouble 213

Nursing with Teeth? At Night? 217

Permission to Grieve 221



PART 4 – WHY I DO THE WORK I DO

Breastfeeding Help is Available 231

Baby Goals I Wanted to Meet 233

Strengthening My Inner Confidence 235

Worth the Drive 237

Putting Me at Ease 239

A Sensitive Two-Year Old 241

Comforting Him in Our “special little way.” 243

A Letter From Pennsylvania 245

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Resources 249

Appendix B: Herbal Labor Inductions – Are They Safe? 255

Appendix C: Pregnancy and Labor – No Picnic for Dad 257

Appendix E: Why the Dash? 261