Breastfeeding rather than bottle-feeding is seen as the ideal of a good mother in Instagram comments
UPF research concludes that publications by so-called instamoms generate threads of debate where being a good mother is often associated with breastfeeding exclusively and where mothers who do not are subject to judgement.
A study by Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) analyses the presence of discourses on Instagram that associate the ideal of a good motherhood with exclusively breastfeeding and foster a sense of guilt among women who cannot or do not wish to breastfeed, in many cases due to the difficulty of combining doing so with other duties of their daily life. These discourses are gaining visibility in a context in which the phenomenon of the instamom -many with hundreds of thousands of followers- has increased the network’s impact on how motherhood is conceived.
The study identifies that the predominant discourse on breastfeeding on Instagram contrasts with the everyday reality of many women, conditioned by structural social and economic factors. While the World Health Organization recommends exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months of the baby’s life, maternal leave in Spain currently stands at 19 weeks. This is one of the reasons why even women who prefer this option have to stop sooner than they would like.
The so-called “mommy wars” highlight the tensions between the traditional and idealized visions of motherhood and the real experience of many women
In this context, comments on Instagram on the subject reflect the tensions between the idealized representation of motherhood and the real experiences of many mothers and have become symbolic battlegrounds, also coined as “mommy wars”. On the one hand, they are spaces of mutual support among mothers, where they have access to specialized advice. On the other, they can become spaces for social judgement, where mothers who do not conform to the traditional canons of a “good mother” come under criticism. These controversial comments are also encouraged by Instagram’s algorithms which, as previous studies on digital platforms point out, can favour these types of content.
The study on the subject, recently published in the journal Media&Jornalismo, was written by Mittzy Arciniega-Cáceres and Sílvia Escobar, from the Youth, Society and Communication research group (JOVIS) of the UPF Department of Communication. For their research, they analysed the contents, themes and underlying values of 592 comments in 15 publications of five instamom accounts with thousands of followers: @ohmama.matrona, @mamarylactar, @yaizallinas.enf, @sleepbunny.club and @lactapp_lactancia.
The influencer mothers analysed present themselves as experts and prescribers in maternity, parenting and breastfeeding. But, according to Mittzy Arciniega, their role is fraught with contradictions. “On the one hand, they present themselves as experts on maternity, parenting or breastfeeding and give advice and support to other women. But, on the other hand, they participate in digital economy dynamics. Many of them use their Instagram accounts as a source of social reputation or even to make a financial profit", the UPF researcher explains.
What characterizes the discussions on Instagram generated by instamoms?
The research has identified these four trends:
- Expressions of guilt and sacrifice associated with breastfeeding: many women express their frustration at not having been able to breastfeed exclusively when returning to work, while others explain how they have sacrificed themselves -to the point of feeling physical pain- to continue with it for as long as possible. Despite this, many consider that the effort is worth it due to the emotional gratification entailed.
- Accounts of social pressures to conform to the traditional canon of a “good mother”: some women explain on Instagram that some paediatricians have questioned their decision to give up exclusively breastfeeding, and that they have also faced criticism and judgement by family members.
- The discourses analysed reflect a limited representation of family and social diversity: the comments on Instagram are mostly framed in a traditional (heteronormative) family model that does not take into account the different models of coexistence, nor the mothers’ cultural diversity or socioeconomic conditions.
- Maternal loneliness: several comments express women’s feelings of loneliness in parenting tasks and emphasize that fathers’ participation is limited.
Lack of discourses critical of the structural factors that hinder mothers’ reconciliation
Study co-author Sílvia Escobar also highlights another general conclusion from the study: “Although on Instagram mothers express the difficulties involved in reconciling their daily lives with breastfeeding and parenting their children, they mostly conceive it as an individual problem and do not attribute it to structural social shortcomings of the neoliberal and patriarchal model”. Therefore, the research concludes that these Instagram spaces have little potential to incite critical awareness and to empower women to defend their rights.
Reference article:
Cáceres, Mittzy; Fuentes, Silvia (2026). La Lactancia como Eje de la “Buena Maternidad”: Discursos y Tensiones en los Comentarios de Instamamis Españolas. Media & Jornalismo. https://doi.org/10.14195/2183-5462_48_7
Journal
Media & Jornalismo
Method of Research
Content analysis
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Breastfeeding as the Cornerstone of ‘Good Motherhood’: Discourses and Tensions in the Comments of Spanish Instagram Mums
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