"Woman's Hour or Mother's Hour": postnatal depression narratives, treatment and reception on BBC radio, 1946-1985.

Abstract

Launched in 1946, Woman's Hour became one of Britain's first women-organised radio programmes, predominantly targeting mothers. In 1960, Woman's Hour transmitted the first mass media broadcast on "childbirth depression" in Britain; however, such discussions only became standard on Woman's Hour in the twenty-first century. This article explores why the BBC and Woman's Hour developed an interest in maternal mental health. It then evaluates how Woman's Hour approached the originally "taboo" topic by comparing the narratives (doctors, women and "husbands"), treatments (medical, pharmacological, and hormonal), and reception (absent to varied) pertaining to three postnatal depression features produced in 1960, 1974, and 1985. Most researchers of motherhood explore print press and increasingly television sources, yet radio remains overlooked. This article maps how this medium navigated and reflected key changes in Britain's gendered workplace and family dynamics. The article builds on and contributes to the history of changing attitudes to motherhood and maternal mental illness, radio as a form of health communication, the influence of women's voices, and medical professionals' expanding responsibilities in post-World War Two Britain. This will appeal to scholars from many disciplines, including history, gender, culture, and feminist media studies.