Why You Should Read "Mothering Magazine"

Barb Hacker
Barb Hacker, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Oct 2, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
I first discovered "Mothering" when I was pregnant with my second child. I've always held strong convictions that breastfeeding and co-sleeping where the best way for me to parent my children. After having successfully practiced them both with my oldest son, I was ready to branch out into even more natural parenting. Internet surfing led me to the Mothering website and to "Mothering Magazine."

"Mothering" is a magazine focused on natural family living. It is a bimonthly magazine filled with informative articles on all aspects of parenting.

Articles

The articles in "Mothering" cover all age groups. Articles on natural birth practices, breastfeeding and infant care cover the early days and months of a child's life. Then, articles delve into topics that are of interest to mothers of toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged children and even teenagers.

"Mothering" does not shy away from controversy. The magazine has covered home schooling, vaccines, circumcision, c-sections and many other controversial topics.

Each issue is usually focused on a particular aspect of parenting. For example, the current issue on newsstands is a special pregnancy issue. This issue has articles about homebirths, midwives and the high rate of cesareans in the U.S.

Advertising

The advertising in "Mothering" is a breath of fresh air for me, a breastfeeding mother who is tired of being bombarded with formula ads every time I see a parenting magazine. All of the ads are for products that support natural family living. There are ads for baby slings, cloth diapers, vitamins for kids and many other natural living products. The ads in the back of the magazine are for a variety of natural products, including toys, clothing and bras.

Pictures and Models

Unlike most magazines on the market, "Mothering" uses real people in its photos. The photos that accompany most articles are often pictures of the author or the author's children. The models are not overly made up, airbrushed or fake looking in anyway. "Mothering" is not trying to sell an unrealistic view of a woman's body. The magazine uses real women with real curves and real flaws throughout. As a reader, I can relate to each photo and even identify with some of them. They are mothers, just like me.

"Mothering Magazine" is for every mother. Those that are particularly committed to natural parenting will find easy validation in its pages. Those new to natural parenting will find tons of information that will guide them on their path towards making informed parenting decisions. Even mothers who are not entirely committed to natural parenting will be able to take away interesting and useful information from each issue of Mothering.

Published by Barb Hacker

Lucy is thrilled to be realizing her dream of freelance writing. She got her start at AC, has branched out into a few other content writing sites and has now started to expand into print media.  View profile

  • Mothering magazine does not shy away from controversy.
  • Mothering only advertises products that support natural family living.
  • Mothering does not contain pictures of overly made up, airbrushed models.
Peggy O'Mara is the editor and publisher of Mothering.

12 Comments

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  • Frogdoc12/7/2007

    This sounds like a great mag.. I'm going to check it out! thanks!

  • BuntingResources.com11/27/2007

    A great review, MM is awesome!

  • Amy Weekley10/20/2007

    I need to subscribe to Mothering. Right now I get Parents (granted, it was a free subscription, but still) and I HATE it. So many formula ads and flat-out wrong information about breastfeeding, cosleeping, and all kinds of stuff. It's awful.

  • Lisa Riggs10/18/2007

    Excellent review Lucy!!!

  • Brooklynn Meadows10/16/2007

    If you want a deeper look into natural birth that the scope of a magazine(even one as great as Mothering) just can't accommodate, there's an awesome book called "Gentle Birth Choices". I have an overview of it: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/214104/how_to_have_a_gentle_and_positive_birth.html

    Written by an R.N. who has seen and studied the hospital world of birth and the completely unmedicalized world of births at home, it's the go to place if you want to have natural elements in your birthing experience.

  • Brooklynn Meadows10/16/2007

    I have really enjoyed Mothering. Though I won't go as far as to say it is the "best" (though leaps and bounds better than 'Parents' or 'Parenting') - another AWESOME parenting magazine is Above Rubies - a free publication of No Greater Joy Ministries. They also have one written by a man, for fathers to have a resource for encouraging them in their parenting. They are completely naturally minded and discuss that list of topics as well (co-sleeping, vaccines, circumcision, cloth diapering, etc.), but address a larger scope of parenting - the ULTIMATE natural parenting - encouraging us, and providing resources for being the families God intended. Check out http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/

  • Alisa Elizabeth King Terry10/14/2007

    This is definitely the Rolls Royce of parenting magazines, the only one that actually pays attention to real science instead of stupid parenting trends, and actually honors motherhood as the important and sacred job that it is. Bravo!

  • Sharon Van Gaskin10/10/2007

    I agree! This is a great magazine.

  • Kelly H.10/2/2007

    I just wrote this exact same article, and hadn't submitted it yet! Yours was better, anyway! :) I'm a new Mothering magazine convert (their digital subscription) after years of reading Parents/Parenting. I couldn't be more pleased, even if I am still a fairly mainstream mom in many respects.

  • Niki10/2/2007

    I love Mothering Magazine! Great review :)

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