Postnatal bedsharing advice, risk and exploitation: a feminist analysis
1The University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
Midwifery
|September 23, 2025
Summary
Advice against postnatal bedsharing creates barriers to breastfeeding and maternal wellbeing. This advice, rooted in patriarchal logic, exploits women by framing them as both risk and resource, undermining the crucial mother-baby dyad.
Area of Science:
- Sociology of health
- Feminist theory
- Public health policy
Background:
- Postnatal bedsharing is known to support breastfeeding and maternal wellbeing.
- Current UK advice against bedsharing contradicts breastfeeding recommendations.
- This advice can lead to maternal exhaustion, shame, and breastfeeding difficulties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the contradiction in UK breastfeeding and bedsharing advice.
- To examine risk discourse and its application to women's bodies.
- To understand how patriarchal structures influence postnatal care recommendations.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of risk discourse using Mary Douglas's theories.
- Application of radical materialist feminist perspectives.
- Examination of societal attitudes towards women's bodies and risk.
Main Results:
- Bedsharing taboos are linked to a patriarchal ontology emphasizing sovereign individuals over interdependence.
- The amplification of certain risks (e.g., overlaying) over others (e.g., lower breastfeeding rates) serves to exploit women.
- Advice against bedsharing diminishes maternal subjectivity and agency.
Conclusions:
- Current bedsharing advice is driven by patriarchal exploitation, not the wellbeing of the mother-baby dyad.
- This advice reinforces a societal view of individuals as risks or resources, serving to exploit women.
- A shift towards women-centered, feminist postnatal advice is needed to better support mother-baby wellbeing.
More Related Videos
04:20Author Spotlight: Exploring Microglial Interactions with Stress-Response Circuitry Using the Limited Bedding and Nesting Model
Published on: July 12, 2024
2.4K
09:49Assessment of Perigenital Sensitivity and Prostatic Mast Cell Activation in a Mouse Model of Neonatal Maternal Separation
Published on: August 13, 2015
9.7K
Related Concept Videos
00:55Parental Care
12.7K
Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.
12.7K
03:34Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
48.6K
Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.
48.6K
01:23Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
338
In a study where individuals posing as strangers offered compliments and proposed casual sex to students, the responses differed significantly based on gender. Not a single woman accepted the proposal, while 70% of the men agreed. This outcome provides a useful scenario to explore through the lens of evolutionary psychology and social learning theory, highlighting the diverse perspectives on human sexual behaviors.
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
338
01:20Attachment
502
Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
502
01:27Horney's Sociocultural Approach
1.0K
Karen Horney's psychoanalytic theories emphasize the potential for self-realization and the importance of addressing social and cultural, rather than biological, factors in personality development. She challenged traditional Freudian views, particularly Freud's concept of "penis envy," which she argued stemmed from cultural influences rather than inherent biological differences. Horney believed that any sense of inferiority in women was a result of societal conditioning, such as...
1.0K
02:12Relationship Formation
45.2K
What do you think is the single most influential factor in determining with whom you become friends and whom you form romantic relationships? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is simple: the people with whom you have the most contact. This most important factor is proximity. You are more likely to be friends with people you have regular contact with. For example, there are decades of research that shows that you are more likely to become friends with people who live in your dorm,...
45.2K