Journal article

Moralising Rhetoric and Imperfect Realities: Breastfeeding Promotions and the Experiences of Recently Delivered Mothers in Urban Yogyakarta, Indonesia

BRM Spagnoletti, LR Bennett, M Kermode, SA Wilopo

Asian Studies Review | ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD | Published : 2018

Abstract

Exclusive breastfeeding is embedded in National Health Law and Regulation in Indonesia and is vigorously promoted by health workers, breastfeeding counsellors and religious leaders. This article explores the transformation of state legislation into breastfeeding promotions that are imbued with moralising assumptions directed at expectant women, new mothers and their partners. Drawing on an 18-month ethnographic study, the rhetoric of breastfeeding promotion messages is contrasted with the narratives of urban middle-class mothers in Yogyakarta. This article highlights the challenges women experience in their attempts to breastfeed and the divergence between the moralising rhetoric of breastfe..

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University of Melbourne Researchers