Social Support and Maternal Wellbeing through the National Lockdowns in England

“It takes a village to raise a child” – yet the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures implemented in England created a situation in which mothers faced barriers in accessing social support. Lockdowns have been an "extreme" form of social distancing measures implemented by government- but the restrictions around lockdowns have varied over time. How have mothers experienced the different lockdowns, particularly in terms of social support? Our original study collected quantitative social network, support, and wellbeing data from 164 mothers living in London (the original epicentre of COVID-19 in the UK) whose youngest child is aged 6 months or under, via online survey in May-June ’20 and August ‘20. Drawing from this sample, we aim to conduct focus groups to collect in-depth qualitative data on maternal experience through the lockdowns. The project is being funded by a UCL Strategic Initiatives Seed-funding Small Grant and The British Academy Special Research Awards – COVID-19 scheme (Ref: COV19\200776).