A sociological perspective on postpartum depression: An analysis of motherhood representations in the films A Mouthful Of Air (2021), Baby Blues (2008), Tully (2018), and The Witches (2024)

This thesis offers a sociological and feminist analysis of postpartum depression (PPD) through cinematic representation, exploring the psychosocial impact of cultural and societal expectations of motherhood. Four films—Tully (2018), A Mouthful Of Air (2021), Baby Blues (2008), and The Witches (2024)—are analyzed in relation to their portrayals of PPD, normative motherhood, lack of systemic support, silence and shame, and intersecting social factors such as class, race, and occupational identity. The study examines how women's breakdowns are represented and aestheticized in sinema, rendered socially invisible, or reclaimed through solidarity. It reveals how these cinematic narratives construct motherhood experiences through the lens of gender roles, institutional failures, and medical epistemic injustice, while also questioning how women negotiate subjectivity under such conditions. Utilizing feminist film theory and discourse analysis, this comparative analysis demonstrates that postpartum depression is not merely a personal condition but a socially constructed experience shaped by structural dynamics.