Navigating Breastfeeding Challenges Online


Anna Kuznetsov, University of Toronto

Breastfeeding experiences have predominantly been studied using surveys and interviews. North American studies reveal that mothers most often struggle with breastfeeding due to low milk supply and difficulty with technique (Odom et al. 2013; Public Health Agency of Canada 2022). Many scholars have found that mothers equate successful breastfeeding with good mothering (in line with the intensive mothering model), such that an inability to breastfeed is experienced as a personal failure (Knaak 2010; Lee 2007; Thomson, Ebisch-Burton, and Flacking 2015). In addition, early negative breastfeeding experiences may be a risk factor for postpartum depression (Watkins et al. 2011). However, there is an impetus to understand not only “the normative and ideological imperatives of breastfeeding and how women manage them but to explore these in the context of women’s changing lives, the multiple and diverse conceptions of ‘good mothering’ and the values attached to different feeding practices” (Marshall, Godfrey, and Renfrew 2007:2158). Responding to this call, I investigate how parents navigate their breastfeeding challenges on a popular parenting website’s breastfeeding forum, a method which to my knowledge has not been previously undertaken by social scientists. I analyze forum discussions to uncover: 1) What breastfeeding challenges are discussed and what are their impacts on well-being, as perceived by posters? 2) What are the dominant cultural tropes or discourses around breastfeeding and motherhood? 3) What is the role of the forum in responding to breastfeeding challenges? Findings indicate that parents experience a myriad of breastfeeding challenges, from those which are more medical or individual in nature (e.g., low milk supply, difficulty with breastfeeding technique) to those which are more social in nature (e.g., unsupportive partner, barriers to pumping breastmilk at work). However, underlying all issues is a social element, meaning that greater social investments—such as accessible, responsive, and tailored hands-on support, comprehensive, accurate, and timely information, and broader cultural education and support for breastfeeding—could prevent many breastfeeding challenges. This is a crucial objective as forum participants describe feeling like a failure, discouraged, confused, lost, emotional, desperate, exhausted, disheartened, tired, drained, isolated, at a loss, frustrated, heartbroken, stressed, and upset in response to their breastfeeding challenges. The discourse on the forum tends toward the ideal of “good mothering through breastfeeding,” which undoubtedly contributes to adverse mental health in the case of breastfeeding challenges, yet other meanings are attributed to breastfeeding as well. In addition to (1) “good mothering through breastfeeding,” I identify (2) “good mothering through being present,” and (3) “mother comes first” as salient discourses on the forum. The second discourse champions breastfeeding, as long as the mother-baby bond is not harmed. Thus, if a mother has trouble breastfeeding, and this impacts her mental health or ability to be present with her child, then formula-feeding is preferred (“fed is best”). The final discourse “mother comes first,” prioritizes mothers’ well-being, as feeding method is considered inconsequential in the long run. These diverse interpretations of breastfeeding agree with findings by Marshall et al. (2007), which suggest that mothers are swayed by a variety of considerations in relation to breastfeeding, and that the identity of “mother” is negotiated with pre-existing identities such as woman, partner, and worker. The forum is thus a place where different views and orientations can be shared and explored. It is also a space where parents share experiential and embodied knowledge, which serves to reclaim authority and expertise from the medical establishment. While some may consider the forum community as an effective response to inadequate institutional supports, the findings here underscore the need for a public health approach that balances babies’ and parents’ well-being, as the physical and mental health burdens associated with breastfeeding challenges can be quite significant for parents.

This paper will be presented at the following session: