Following (or not) recommendations on infant feeding: Insights from Spanish mothers
The WHO describes breastfeeding as “the normal way to provide infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth” and recommends breastfeeding exclusively on demand for the first six months of the baby. These recommendations on infant feeding are part of a specific health paradigm, which attributes responsibility for health to individuals and emphasizes risk prevention, a paradigm which also joins the idea of parental determinism. Research carried out in Anglo-Saxon countries shows that breastfeeding has become a moral imperative for mothers, and often linked to an ideology of intensive mothering. The aim of this article is twofold: We will first examine whether the standard of breastfeeding is dominant in Spain. Next, we will analyse deviations from the norm and how these deviations are justified and experienced by mothers. Our study is based on qualitative interviews with 56 Spanish mothers in heterosexual couples where the two partners are active in the labour market, interviewed before and after the birth of their first child. Interviews with these women show that breastfeeding is indeed perceived as ideal for babies, but mothers who deviate from the norm use various rationales, some of which question the principles of intensive motherhood.