Risk, responsibility, and rhetoric in infant feeding

This article considers the way in which discourses around risk intersect wi th the ideology of motherhood in advanced liberal societies. Neoliberal cit izens are urged to exercise prudence in the light of expert advice about mi nimizing risk through behavioral choices. The "good mother" is one who maxi mizes physical and psychological outcomes for her child, regardless of pers onal cost, Drawing on data from a longitudinal interview study of first-tim e mothers' feeding practices, the moral context that arises at the intersec tion of these two discourses is explored Experts advise mothers to breast-f eed and warn of the short-, medium-, and long-term risks associated with fo rmula feeding. Most mothers accept the validity of these expert claims and most initiate breastfeeding. However many abandon breastfeeding long before experts recommend This article considers how mothers deal with the threat to their identities as good, neoliberal citizens and mothers that arises fr om such feeding practices.