After over 20 years serving in the U.S. intelligence community while being a mother of five, Gina Bennett, in her new book, National Security Mom: Why ‘Going Soft’ Will Make America Strong, described her experiences balancing birth and breastfeeding while she was analyzing terrorist attacks and assessing security threats. Bennett was in the early stages of her fourth pregnancy on September 11, 2001 and, while working non-stop at a CIA counter-terrorism center in the weeks that followed, had to be hospitalized because she was severely dehydrated and her amniotic fluid level had dropped.

Throughout the bulk of National Security Mom, Bennett applied motherly wisdom to national security, likening parenting to foreign affairs. In discussing the importance of understanding what motivates terrorists and their supporters, Bennett wrote: “Parenting a teenager can feel like navigating a difficult foreign relations crisis. You often feel you need a translator and a team of trained negotiators. Ignoring the communication challenge does not make it go away. Similarly, turning a blind eye to another population’s hostility toward America does not lessen the anger. It only guarantees the people will not listen to anything we have to say.” (October 2008)

Purchase National Security Mom here.