Motherdom:Breaking Free of Bad Science and Good Mother Myths

Societal expectations about motherhood aren't just unrealistic, they are based on fundamental bad science.

Almost all parenting advice is wrong. Parenting "experts" peddle claims about how parenting styles impact a child's development and terrify new parents about getting it wrong.

When Alex Bollen had her first baby, she found herself feeling guilty and anxious about being a bad mother. A researcher with twenty years experience, she went in search of answers about what was the right way to care for her children. But when she started digging into studies about mothers and babies, she was surprised by how flimsy the evidence was, and how it was so often exaggerated and misrepresented.

Incensed by the way that mothers were being shamed by bad science, Alex Bollen decided to set the record straight. With meticulous research and keen insight, Motherdom exposes the bad science behind myths about bad mothering. From birthing advice that prioritise efficiency over safety and comfort and contradictory feeding advice that leaves both the bottle feeding and breastfeeding without support, to the bogus science of attachment theory, Alex Bollen reveals what we know, and perhaps more importantly, what we don't know, about what the science says.