Risk, Responsibility, and Rhetoric in Infant Feeding

Abstract

This article considers the way in which discourses around risk intersect with the ideology of motherhood in advanced liberal societies. Neoliberal citizens are urged to exercise prudence in the light of expert advice about minimizing risk through behavioral choices. The “good mother” is one who maximizes physical and psychological outcomes for her child, regardless of personal cost. Drawing on data from a longitudinal interview study of first-time mothers' feeding practices, the moral context that arises at the intersection of these two discourses is explored. Experts advise mothers to breast-feed and warn of the short-, medium-, and long-term risks associated with formula feeding. Most mothers accept the validity of these expert claims and most initiate breast feeding. However, many abandon breast feeding long before experts recommend. This article considers how mothers deal with the threat to their identities as good, neoliberal citizens and mothers that arises from such feeding practices.

The seeking of baby-feeding information by Canadian women pregnant with twins

“…Murphy (1999Murphy ( , 2000 observes that, in neoliberal societies, the 'good mother' is one who maximises physical & psychological outcomes for her child, regardless of personal cost. Schmied et al (2001) argue that the breast-is-best discourse can lead professionals to breast-feeding-centred rather than woman-centred practice.…”

Expressing yourself: A feminist analysis of talk around expressing breast milk

“…In a study conducted by Murphy (2000), being 'thwarted by the inefficiencies of their bodies' (p. 311) and the pain of breastfeeding were seen as legitimate reasons for turning to formula feeding and thus as a way of deflecting accusations of being a 'bad mother'. However, in the present study, Imogen stated that expressing breast milk and feeding it via a bottle was invariably her preferred choice before trying formula feeding.…”

“…For example, if a baby was seen as being unsettled or was not gaining weight, good mothering was defined by the mothers in their study as finding alternative infant feeding practices which remedied this. Murphy (2000) similarly shows how mothers who initially breastfed but then resorted to formula feeding their infants resist being positioned as 'bad mothers' by drawing on alternative constructions of 'good mothering' which emphasised their responsibility for the baby's health and contentment in the 'here-and-now'.…”

“…Related to these constructions is a moral dichotomy between breast milk which is represented as 'good' and formula milk represented as 'bad' (Bartlett, 2003;2005;Murphy, 2000). In addition, contradictions have been discussed surrounding the public/private dichotomy in terms of the difficulties posed for women returning to work while breastfeeding (Bartlett, 2005;Dykes, 2005;McCarter-Spaulding, 2008) and the frequent taboo on breastfeeding in public places (Stearns, 1999).…”

“…A feminist approach to analysis involves going beyond the surface content of women's accounts and explicitly exploring the social processes which can make breastfeeding oppressive (Carter, 1995;McCarter-Spaulding, 2008). Generally feminist approaches highlight the problematic nature of focusing on infant feeding 'decisions' as if they are individual, autonomous choices; instead, they suggest that practices adopted are about balancing different sets of demands and finding solutions which help women to assert some control (Bartlett, 2003;Carter, 1995;Murphy, 2000).…”