In a poll of 127 new mums, which consisted of mostly married, highly educated women with full-time jobs, many of them reported feeling bad if a photo they posted of their new baby didn’t get enough `likes` and comments.
Researchers noted there were two types of mums - those who feel pressure to be perfect mums and those who identify very strongly with their motherhood role post more.
Lead author of the study, professor Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, said the results show mums who share a baffling number of baby pics reported more depressive symptoms after nine months of parenthood.
She added: "A lot of mums may feel pressured to portray this very positive image of motherhood, and if on the inside you`re not feeling that good, I think that could be detrimental.
"If a mother is posting on Facebook to get affirmation that she’s doing a good job and doesn’t get all the ‘likes’ and positive comments she expects, that could be a problem. She may end up feeling worse.”
Researchers also discovered women who uploaded their child’s photo as their profile picture were found to identify more strongly with their role as a mother than those who didn`t.
“What these mothers are saying is that my child is central to my identity, at least right now. That’s really telling,” she said.
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