Breastfeeding in Italy. How "the first 1,000 days" discourse molecularises social expectations of intensive mothering

Breastfeeding is one of the core pillars of the so-called "First Thousand Days" (FTD) discourse. By mobilising neuroscience, the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), and epigenetics, this contemporary narrative establishes a causal link between various pre-natal and early-life lifestyle factors and health across the lifespan. By framing parental choices as social determinants of children's health, it aligns with broader contemporary parenting trends, such as scientific motherhood and intensive parenting, the expectation that parents, particularly mothers, devote significant time and energy to raising their children according to the latest scientific advice.

A qualitative analysis of health information guides and policy papers circulating in Italy over the last 6 years was conducted following the principles of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The aim was to explore how the promotion of breastfeeding within the FTD framework normalises biomedical imaginaries of childrearing and increases social pressure on mothers.

The analysed texts emphasise individual behavioral prescriptions for mothers, focusing on nutrition, bodily techniques, and information gathering, while largely overlooking structural barriers such as inadequate parental leave or poor work-life balance. Biomedical and epigenetic narratives portray the mother as a vector for the child's gene expression, development, and health. She is positioned as dependent on expert guidance, while embodied maternal knowledge is marginalised.

This discourse blends social and biological determinism, reinforcing intensive mothering ideals rooted in healthism, and underestimating the structural constraints that hinder full adherence to these expectations. In the Italian context, characterized by weak parental support policies and limited implementation of breastfeeding promotion, this narrative may contribute to a perception of motherhood as anomic, where the ideal of raising healthy children is promoted without providing the necessary means to achieve it.