The Breast Is Yet To Come

Breastfeeding is one of the most amazing experiences a woman can have. Of course, babies don’t come with an instruction manual, so a mother’s early nursing experience can be very stressful to say the least.

Not only do women go through nine months of pregnancy, but after the exhaustion and pain of delivering a newborn, they’re immediately charged with feeding a sometimes sleepy, sometimes ravenous tiny human—one who leaks bodily fluids from both ends and may have little patience, even if they’re just being burped between breasts.

Add in the demands of older siblings (if there are any) or well-meaning family members and friends who always have advice to share, it’s a wonder parents survive the first few weeks.

When we got the idea to create this book three years ago, we were driven by the maxim “laughter is the best medicine.” But given the stress described above, we wondered whether new moms and dads would have the bandwidth to step back and see the humor in what they were going through. We hope the answer is yes, because we want mothers and fathers to know they’re part of a wider community of proud, though exhausted parents.

The ideas for the cartoons came from our personal experiences as parents, stories from friends and family and situations Howard encounters every day as a pediatrician. This project was a labor of love, and we hope you have as much fun reading the book as we did putting it together.

—Jan & Howard

Howard Bennett is a pediatrician with more than forty years of experience caring for children and their families. Known for his wry sense of humor and knack for finding laughter in life’s more chaotic moments, he often reminds new parents that the early days are more “Stephen King than Disney.” Over the years, he has worked closely with postpartum nurses and lactation consultants, learning what works—and what doesn’t—when it comes to helping newborns eat.

Jan Bennett has been a teacher for four decades, working with children from nursery school through third grade, both in the classroom and as an art instructor. She is beloved by students and parents alike, admired for her warmth, patience and creativity.

If the couple’s decades of professional experience with children did not qualify Howard and Jan to write a book about breastfeeding, their personal adventures raising two “problem nursers” certainly did.

Together, the Bennetts have two children who came into the world with gusto and a flair for drama. Their daughter shrieked every time she was put to the breast for two weeks before deciding to nurse without protest. Their son arrived three years later and took a different approach, biting Jan’s nipples like a pit bull at a dogfight until they decided that preserving her sanity was more important than getting him to nurse.

At one point, a typical feeding involved Jan holding the baby with both a nipple and a thin feeding tube in her mouth with the tube attached to a pouch of breastmilk hanging around her neck. Meanwhile, Howard would be feeding Jan a sandwich with one hand while eating a slice of cold pizza with the other. They affectionately referred to this routine as “the food chain.”

These experiences—both lived and learned—inspired the humor and honesty found in these pages, a lighthearted reminder that laughter really is the best medicine for the early days of parenting.

“Jan and Howard Bennett have created a treasure trove of funny situations about breastfeeding that every parent will recognize. You’ll love this book whether your baby is still nursing or is out of diapers and is making his or her way in the world.” 
—Alyssa Milano, actress

“Charming, relatable, and delightfully clever, this comic collection from a pediatrician dad and a teacher mom captures the beautiful, bonkers reality of breastfeeding. With New Yorker-style illustrations showcasing families of all shapes, sizes, and colors, it’s a cheerful gift for sleep-deprived parents who need a chuckle and a reminder they’re in good company. Having lived through these messy, magical moments myself as a pediatrician and mom, I’m thrilled to share this book with fellow parents!” 
—Betty Choi, MD, author of Human Body Learning Lab and Ask the Doctor

“Humor is a tool that not only makes you laugh, but also has the ability to bring people together. The authors of this delightful book had me laughing out loud, but did so in a way that shows their support for nursing moms everywhere. It would make a great icebreaker at your next baby shower.” 
—Kim West, MSW, nationally known infant sleep expert and author of The Sleep Lady’s Gentle Newborn Sleep Guide

“When I was a new mother, the most daunting task, by far, was breastfeeding. My daughter wouldn’t latch, and I felt I was failing at this first basic task of motherhood. I wish I had had a book like this one! Funny and accessible, this beautifully illustrated book will amuse and illuminate. Most importantly, it will make you feel like you’re not alone and are accompanied by the wisdom of two child-rearing experts.” 
—Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Opinion Audio podcast host for the New York Times and former NPR Host of Weekend Edition

“Finally, the breastfeeding book I needed so badly! As a lactation consultant working with families locally in NYC and virtually around the globe, I believe The Breast is Yet to Come will bring joy and laughter to this typically stressful parenting milestone. The cartoons in this book have the perfect mix of tongue-in-cheek humor surrounding lactation, and it hits all those hard-to-reach funny (breast) bones. The Breast is Yet to Come will be displayed on my office table for all my clients to enjoy so they can see a different side of life as a breastfeeding parent.” 
—Natalie Diaz, certified lactation consultant and founder of Twiniversity.com

“One of the dirty little secrets of motherhood is that after delivering the baby, you’re also in charge of feeding him or her 24 hours a day. I wasn’t sure I’d survive the first 72 hours, but we made it through eight months of breastfeeding! As I watched my little guy plump up, I saw the humor and absurdity of what it means to be a food source for a small human while also working, traveling, pumping, and meeting other demands of the day. This book is very clever and captures all of that with a healthy dose of much-needed humor.” 
—Margaret Brennan, moderator of Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, CBSNews

Because humor helped my wife and I survive the early months of parenting, we made a digital slide presentation for lactation consultants, midwives, doulas and nurses who work in the trenches with nursing mothers and lead breastfeeding classes for expectant parents. The goal with the presentation is to add a little humor to the challenges that come with learning about and adjusting to this revered and challenging milestone of parenthood.

The presentation includes 25 of our favorite cartoons from the book and some sample text in the notes section that introduces each slide. Visitors to our website are free to use the material in educational settings with the stipulation that we get an attribution as creators of the content.

The same holds for healthcare practitioners who want to download and use individual cartoons from the “Sample Cartoons” section of the website.

Note: Although we compressed the PowerPoint presentation, it is still a very large file, so please allow 3-5 minutes for it to download. Or, it could read: …so please be patient for it to download.

Breast Cartoons Powerpoint File (433M)