Maynooth University Motherhood Project marks National Breastfeeding Week 2022 

This week, Maynooth University Motherhood Project presents a series of events to mark National Breastfeeding Week October 3rd to 7th 2022 that explore breastfeeding across Europe.  The events feature cutting-edge research and discussion on the cultural, social, environmental and legal influences on breastfeeding in Ireland and beyond in 2022. 

On Tuesday October 4th, Dr. Sara Sylvén, Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, Uppsala University and Dr Jenny Säilävaara, Postdoctoral Researcher, Gender Studies, University of Jyväskylä will present on their research in Sweden and Finland, both exploring women’s experiences of breastfeeding in their national context. They will be joined by Aisling Sheils, Friends of Breastfeeding Ireland and Baby Feeding Law Group Ireland who will share her experiences of supporting women with breastfeeding in Ireland as well as insights into the challenges facing breastfeeding in the Irish context. This will be followed by the Irish launch of The Nurture and Care Project Art exhibition and discussion with artist Valeria Alves da Florencia https://thenurtureandcareproject.org/ at 18:00 in Maynooth Library.  

On Thursday October 6th, the Maynooth University Motherhood Project and the Arts and Humanities Institute, Maynooth University hosts a lunchtime seminar The History of Breastfeeding in Ireland with Dr Judy Bolger, PhD Researcher, Dept of History, Trinity College, Dublin. Dr Bolger will be joined by Mary Collins and Geraldine McDonnell Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre who will share the experience of the Traveller community and Dr Edel Quirke, Chair Friends of Breastfeeding Ireland who will discuss the issues facing women in Ireland today.  

The events seek to stimulate an open discussion on the lived experience of breastfeeding mothers in Ireland and beyond, and pose the questions, what are the barriers to breastfeeding and what can we do now to support mothers?  

The events are organised by the Maynooth University Motherhood Project and supported by the Arts and Humanities Institute, Maynooth University and the MotherNet project, a TWINNING funded collaboration between Maynooth University, Uppsala University, and Vilnius University. The MotherNet project stimulates innovative, cross-disciplinary, and policy-relevant research about motherhood. It is a networking project, engaging researchers in the humanities, social sciences and medicine from three Universities funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 952366.