Examination of the Feelings and Experiences of Postpartum Mothers Engaging with Social Media: A Qualitative Study
Publication: Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
15 January 2025
Abstract
Purpose: This study examined how postpartum mothers experience social media within the context of mothering and their postpartum body.
Methods: A subsample of 20 mothers (age 23–42) of infants aged 0–6 months who were exposed to body-focused social media posts as part of an experimental study designed to test social media’s impact on body dissatisfaction took part in semi-structured interviews. We used thematic analysis to identify themes and subthemes generated from the data.
Results: We identified three themes in the study: (i) Social media provides a sense of connection with family and friends as a source of support, and connecting with others to gather information related to mothering and child-rearing; (ii) social media led mothers to engage in comparison regarding their bodies, lifestyles, and baby’s development; and: (iii) mothers do not always recognize the influence of social media on their feelings.
Conclusions: Findings can help guide prenatal and postpartum interventions and equip healthcare professionals with the information needed to support postpartum mothers in maintaining a positive body image and mothering experience when engaging online.
Résumé
Objectif. Cette étude a exploré ce que vivent des mères en période post-partum sur les médias sociaux en lien avec la maternité et leur corps post-partum.
Méthodes Un sous-échantillon de 20 mères (de 23 à 42 ans) de nourrissons de 0 à 6 mois ayant été exposées à des publications axées sur le corps dans les médias sociaux dans le cadre d’une étude expérimentale conçue pour tester l’impact des médias sociaux sur l’insatisfaction corporelle ont pris part à des entrevues semi-structurées. Nous avons utilisé une analyse thématique pour cibler les thèmes et les sous-thèmes générés par les données.
Résultats. Nous avons identifié trois thèmes dans l’étude : (i) les médias sociaux donnent un sentiment de connexion avec la famille et les amis en tant que source de soutien, et permettent d’entrer en contact avec d’autres personnes pour recueillir de l’information sur la maternité et l’éducation des enfants; (ii) les médias sociaux ont amené les mères à se comparer quant à leur corps, à leur mode de vie et au développement de leur bébé; et (iii) les mères ne reconnaissent pas toujours l’influence des médias sociaux sur leurs sentiments.
Conclusions. Les résultats pourraient orienter les interventions prénatales et postnatales et fournir aux professionnels de la santé l’information nécessaire pour aider les mères en période post-partum qui utilisent les médias sociaux à maintenir une image positive de leur corps et de la maternité.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Sources of support: This work was supported by the Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research. The opinions contained within this manuscript are those of the authors, and no official endorsement by CFDR is intended or should be inferred. Lisa Tang is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
REFERENCES
1
Mensah FK and Kiernan KE. Maternal general health and children’s cognitive development and behaviour in the early years: findings from the Millennium Cohort Study. Child: Care Health Dev. 2011;37(1):44–54.
2
Haran C, Van Driel M, Mitchell BL, and Brodribb WE. Clinical guidelines for postpartum women and infants in primary care–a systematic review. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014;14(1):51.
3
Rideout V, Robb MB. Social media, social life: Teens reveal their experiences. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media; 2018.
4
Shensa A, Sidani JE, Hoffman BL, Escobar-Viera CG, Melcher EM, Primack BA, et al. Positive and negative social media experiences among young adults with and without depressive symptoms. J Technol Behav Sci. 2020;6(2):378–87.
5
Aston M, Price S, Monaghan J, Sim M, Hunter A, and Little V. Navigating and negotiating information and support: Experiences of first-time mothers. J Clin Nurs. 2018;27(3-4):640–9.
6
Connell, J., Dworkin, J., Walker, S., Doty, J. Parenting 2.0 summary report: parents’ use of technology and the internet. Minnesota: University of Minnesota; 2012.
7
Duggan, M., Lenhart A, Lampe C, Ellison N. Parents and social media. Washington DC: Pew Research Centre; 2015. Available online: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/07/16/parents-and-social-media/
8
Bendtsen C, Minsker M, Orozco O, Pearson J. US mothers’ digital usage: what matters more, what matters less. EMarketer; 2017. Available from: https://www.emarketer.com/Report/US-Mothers-Digital-Usage-What-Matters-More-What-Matters-Less/2002075.
9
Chae J. “Am I a better mother than you?”: Media and 21st-century motherhood in the context of the social comparison theory. Commun Res. 2015;42(4):503–25.
10
Williams BM, Christopher K, and Sinski J. “Who doesn’t want to be this hot mom?”: Celebrity mom profiles and mothers’ accounts of their post partum bodies. SAGE Open. 2017;7(3):2158244017720562.
11
Henderson A, Harmon S, and Newman H. The price mothers pay, even when they are not buying it: Mental health consequences of idealized motherhood. Sex Roles. 2016;74(11-12):512–26.
12
Sutherland JA. Mothering, guilt and shame. Sociol Compass. 2010;4(5):310–21.
13
Romano M, Cacciatore A, Giordano R, and La Rosa B. Postpartum period: three distinct but continuous phases. J Prenat Med. 2010;4(2):22–5.
14
Bailey SD and Ricciardelli LA. Social comparisons, appearance related comments, contingent self-esteem and their relationships with body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance among women. Eating Behav. 2010;11(2):107–12.
15
Girard M, Rodgers RF, and Chabrol H. Prospective predictors of body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and muscularity concerns among young women in France: A sociocultural model. Body Image. 2018;26:103–10.
16
Tiggemann M and Anderberg I. Social media is not real: The effect of ‘Instagram vs reality’ images on women’s social comparison and body image. New Media Soc. 2020;22(12):2183–99.
17
Hodgkinson EL, Smith DM, and Wittkowski A. Women’s experiences of their pregnancy and postpartum body image: a systematic review and meta-synthesis. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014;14:330.
18
Slevec J and Tiggemann M. Media exposure, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating in middle-aged women: a test of the sociocultural model of disordered eating. Psychol Women Q. 2011;35(4):617–27.
19
Coyne SM, McDaniel BT, and Stockdale LA. “Do you dare to compare?” Associations between maternal social comparisons on social networking sites and parenting, mental health, and romantic relationship outcomes. Comput Human Behav. 2017;70:335–40.
20
Chae J. “Am i a better mother than you?”: Media and 21st-century motherhood in the context of the social comparison theory. Commun Res. 2015;42(4):503–25.
21
Nagl M, Jepsen L, Linde K, and Kersting A. Social media use and postpartum body image dissatisfaction: The role of appearance-related social comparisons and thin-ideal internalization. Midwifery. 2021;100:103038.
22
Hicks S and Brown A. Higher Facebook use predicts greater body image dissatisfaction during pregnancy: The role of self-comparison. Midwifery. 2016;40:132–40.
23
Nyström K and Öhrling K. Parenthood experiences during the child’s first year: literature review. J Adv Nurs. 2004;46(3):319–30.
24
Tang L, Tiggemann M, and Haines J. #Fitmom: an experimental investigation of the effect of social media on body dissatisfaction and eating and physical activity intentions, attitudes, and behaviours among postpartum mothers. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022;22(1).
25
Braun V, Clarke V. Successful qualitative research: a practical guide for beginners. 1st ed. Thousand Oaks CA: SAGE Publications; 2013.
26
Radovic A, Gmelin T, Stein BD, and Miller E. Depressed adolescents’ positive and negative use of social media. J Adolesc (London, England). 2017;55(C):5–15.
27
McNeil DA, Vekved M, Dolan SM, Siever J, Horn S, and Tough SC. Getting more than they realized they needed: A qualitative study of women’s experience of group prenatal care. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2012;12(1):17.
28
Howard LM, Heron KE, MacIntyre RI, Myers TA, and Everhart RS. Is use of social networking sites associated with young women’s body dissatisfaction and disordered eating? A look at Black–White racial differences. Body Image. 2017;23:109–13.
29
Niu Z, Willoughby J, and Zhou R. Associations of health literacy, social media use, and self-efficacy with health information-seeking intentions among social media users in china: cross-sectional survey. J Med Internet Res. 2021;23(2):e19134.
Supplementary Material
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
e-First
Pages: 1 - 7
Editor: Naomi Cahill
History
Version of record online: 15 January 2025
Copyright
© 2024.
Key Words
Mots-clés
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Other Metrics
Citations
Cite As
LisaTangPhD RD, TamaraPetresinMScFN RD, JuliaGruson-WoodPhD, CarlaRicePhD, and JessHainesPhD RD. Examination of the Feelings and Experiences of Postpartum Mothers Engaging with Social Media: A Qualitative Study. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research.
e-First
https://doi.org/10.3148/cjdpr-2024-025
Export Citations
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
There are no citations for this item
View Options
Login options
Check if you access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Subscribe
Click on the button below to subscribe to Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
