“Painful, yet Beautiful, Moments”: Pathways Through Infant Feeding and Dynamic Conceptions of Breastfeeding Success

What is breastfeeding “success”? In this article, we challenge the traditional biomedical definition, instead centering visions of success described by breastfeeding mothers themselves. Using semi-structured interviews, quantitative surveys, and written narratives of 38 first-time mothers in the United States, we describe five common pathways through the first-year postpartum, a taxonomic distinction far more complex than a success–failure dichotomy: sustained breastfeeding, exclusive pumping, combination feeding, rapid weaning, and grinding back to exclusivity. We also explore the myriad ways in which mothers define and experience breastfeeding success, and in the process uncover the ways that cultural narratives—especially intensive mothering—color those experiences. Finally, we discuss how these experiences are shaped by infant feeding pathway. In doing so, we discover nuance that has gone unexplored in the breastfeeding literature. These findings have implications for supporting, promoting, and protecting breastfeeding in the United States and other high-income countries.

Validating social support and prioritizing maternal wellbeing: beyond intensive mothering and maternal responsibility

In this piece, I reflect on the current model of motherhood that prevails in Western countries, often termed ‘intensive mothering'. I will briefly trace the history of this approach, focusing in particular on how theory from developmental psychology has, to some extent, functioned to reinforce it by foregrounding the mother–child dyad and emphasizing the importance of maternal practices for children's developmental outcomes. I will then consider the particular implications of this cultural approach to motherhood for women's experiences of motherhood and maternal wellbeing. Finally, I reiterate that we need to continue to challenge this western-centric model of motherhood, which risks both isolating and overburdening women, by highlighting the ways in which both women and children benefit from wider social support systems, yet also by making it permissible for women to access social support without compromising a ‘good mother' identity. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Multidisciplinary perspectives on social support and maternal–child health'.

Commercial surrogacy in the age of intensive mothering

This study examines the navigation of intensive mothering ideology – the dominant cultural mothering schema in the US which places pressure on mothers to exclusively devote time and energy to their children, casting any other activity as problematic – within the lived experience of a unique cohort of mothers: women paid to gestate and birth babies for others. Based on in-depth interviews with US commercial surrogates, this study adds new depth to the body of research on intensive mothering by extending the arena of examination beyond work/family balance negotiations, where much of the literature is located. US surrogates understand surrogacy, which is rigorous labor, frequently takes time away from their families, and requires support from family members, not as a form of employment but as a ‘selfish pursuit,’ one they primarily engage in out of their own interests and desires. This study finds that the positive moral framework of surrogate labor as ‘altruistic self-sacrifice’ common within the US surrogacy industry and community, the fact that surrogacy is a relatively short-term ‘gig,’ and the healthy monetary compensation surrogates receive that serves as a tangible ‘thank you gift’ to families, help to buffer surrogates from full intensive mothering accountability. The experiences of US surrogates navigating mothering pressures while participating in surrogacy offer a window into how other contemporary US mothers might resist intensive mothering norms while engaging in non-familial and non-employment activities in their lives, activities such as hobbies or personal time away from family.

“Willing to Do Anything for My Kids”: Inventive Mothering, Diapers, and the Inequalities of Carework

Prior research highlights how mothers across social classes express similar beliefs that good parenting adheres to the tenets of intensive mothering by being child-centered, time-consuming, and self-sacrificing. Yet intensive mothering ideologies emphasize parenting tactics that assume children’s basic needs are met, while ignoring how mothers in poverty devise distinctive childrearing strategies and logics to perform carework demanded by deprivation, discrimination, and a meager social safety net. I theorize inventive mothering that instead highlights the complexity and agency of poor mothers’ innovative efforts to ensure children’s access to resources, protect children from the harms of poverty and racism, and present themselves as fit parents in the context of intersecting gender, class, and race stigma. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 70 mothers who experienced diaper need, I conceptualize diaper work as a case of inventive mothering that involves extensive physical, cognitive, and emotional labor. These findings show how focusing on childrearing practices experienced as “intense” from the point of view of more affluent, white mothers perpetuates inequalities by obscuring the complex labor poor mothers, especially poor mothers of color, perform when there is limited public support for fundamental aspects of childcare.