Home birth stories on Instagram

the sharing of information and maternal experience online

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18568/cmc.2026.e3156

Keywords:

Birth stories, Social Network, Maternity

Abstract

This article analyzes 13 home birth stories published on Instagram in the first half of 2023 and collected through the hashtag #partodomiciliar (home birth). By bringing these narratives into dialogue, the circulation of personal, scientific, and medical information on social media and its influence on childbirth-related decision-making are examined. It is discussed how everyday life acquires new meanings through narratives produced and shared on social media, focusing on the experience of childbirth and on the stories that seek to organize and attribute meaning to this experience. Mothers’ content production points both to the exposure of intimacy on social media and to the possibility of giving visibility to some women’s demands concerning motherhood. Finally, the changes in women’s lives and their impacts on the experience of motherhood are analyzed among those who live through it.

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Author Biography

Mariana Ferraz Musse, Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM)

Faculty member at the Rio de Janeiro Campus of the ESPM’s Rio de Janeiro campus (ESPM/RJ) and a collaborating faculty member of the Graduate Program in Creative Economy, Strategy, and Innovation (PPGECEI/ESPM). She is also an audiovisual producer. She completed postdoctoral research in Social Sciences at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) and holds a PhD in Communication from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Spain), a Master’s degree in Communication from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), and a Master’s degree in Documentary and Society from the Escuela Superior de Cine y Audiovisuales de Cataluña (ESCAC). Email: marianafmusse@ gmail.com

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Published

2026-07-29

How to Cite

Ferraz Musse, M. (2026). Home birth stories on Instagram: the sharing of information and maternal experience online. Comunicação Mídia E Consumo, 23, e3156. https://doi.org/10.18568/cmc.2026.e3156

Issue

Vol. 23 (2026): Continuous Publication - Jan./Dec.

Section

Dossiê - Dossiê Temático - Maternidade /avosidade na mídia

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Mariana Ferraz Musse

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right to first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License that allows the work sharing with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this magazine.