Motherdom review: How neuroscience and bad studies have fuelled intensive parenting

Motherdom
Alex Bollen (Verso (UK, out now; US, pending))

Relax, but be on constant alert. Enjoy your baby, but take them very seriously. Follow your instincts, but do exactly what the scientists and health professionals say. Amid such a deluge of “expert” advice, is it any wonder that the experience of modern parenting – motherhood, in particular – can often feel exhausting and impossible?

Thankfully, a handful of well-researched books are questioning this stress-generating situation and, in the case of Motherdom: Breaking free from bad science…