Raising a Child Without the Village? Social Support and Maternal Wellbeing in the Time of COVID-19

Received wisdom holds it takes a village to raise a child. Across Western countries, the social distancing measures deployed in response to COVID-19 have significantly disrupted what remained of traditional support systems. Social support is increasingly recognised as a key determinant of postnatal health, predicting postnatal depression, mother-infant bonding, and breastfeeding outcomes. However, public health research typically focuses on partners and professional 'medicalised' support, neglecting the role of wider support and the diverse forms it takes. There is an urgent need to understand how maternal social support networks are being impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. How social distancing is shifting access to different forms of social support will be elucidated with a UK-wide longitudinal study of mothers with young infants, and the impacts of this on postnatal depression, bonding, and breastfeeding assessed. By identifying the most beneficial network typologies we will evidence optimal targets for support interventions going forward.