Being a ‘good mother’: examining the discourse of first-time breastfeeding mothers.

Abstract

This study employs a qualitative research design, using a social constructionist approach to examine how first-time South African mothers position breastfeeding as an imperative of good mothering. Six first-time mothers participated in the study using purposive sampling from a private baby clinic site in KwaZulu-Natal. They were interviewed online due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The interviews were transcribed in detail and analysed using discourse analysis. The research findings examined how mothers demonstrated good mothering through their commitment to breastfeeding. The mothers constructed breastfeeding as a project and positioned their bodies as sites that they needed to manage, to work to attain these good mothering standards. The findings showed that the mothers positioned experts as fundamental for breastfeeding success to receive advice, guidance, and reassurance, especially when they experienced difficulties. In the sample, three of the mothers introduced formula, which was positioned as the alternative to breastfeeding. This was accompanied by mothers constructing their failure to fulfil an exclusive breastfeeding ideal and they experienced feelings of guilt, shame, and inadequacy. These three mothers re-negotiated the standard of breastfeeding as an imperative of good mothering by drawing on a counter-discourse that positioned their babies as happy and healthy when using formula. The research concludes that the mothers in the study defined their motherhood identity through their socially constructed successes and failures in breastfeeding. Breastfeeding ideals considerably influenced them, and they constantly measured themselves against these medical and social standards. The impact is that these sociocultural norms position breastfeeding as an essential act of good mothering and contribute to a state of intensive mothering that renders mothers vulnerable to shame and guilt. The findings recommend challenging sociocultural infant feeding constructs and the discourses shaping modern-day motherhood.