The Platformisation of the Family: WHO Code Primer and Social Media, (Mis)information, and Maternal Agency
Fulfil your IBCLC® recertification WHO Code education requirement!
- 2 E-CERPs (Domain VII: Clinical Skills)
- 2 Nursing Contact Hours
This nursing continuing professional development activity was approved by the Virginia Nurse’s Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. This enduring material is approved from August 24, 2026 to August 23, 2028.
US $40
Available on demand. Registration required.
“The algorithm knew I was expecting before I had a chance to tell my family, friends, or GP.”
In today’s digital society, parenting is deeply influenced by both traditional information sources and novel information sources, such as social media, artificial intelligence tools, and tracking apps. Digital platforms have become central infrastructures through which parents seek information, advice, and social connection.
The Platformisation of the Family is presented in two parts:
Part 1: A WHO Code Primer provides a concise refresher on the World Health Organization’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and its role in protecting optimal infant and young child feeding practices and informed feeding decisions from commercial influence. A WHO Code Primer complements and contextualises Part 2: Social Media, (Mis)information, and Maternal Agency within a global public health framework and highlights the role of IBCLCs and other healthcare professionals regarding the WHO Code in various contexts.
Part 2: Social Media, (Mis)information, and Maternal Agency examines how social media and influencer culture shape contemporary parenting norms, with particular attention to (mis)information, infant feeding, and maternal perception.
Drawing on their cutting edge research, Dr Emma Beuckels and Ellen Mertens explore how infant feeding is represented online and how infant feeding practices are framed, aestheticised, and increasingly commercialised within digital environments. Digital platform logics, which prioritise visibility and monetisation over accuracy, contribute to the commodification of even the most basic aspects of breastfeeding and transform a family’s common concerns into opportunities for commercial engagement. These platforms promote parenting and care ideals aligned with platform and market interests rather than evidence-based, informed decision-making.
Throughout Part 2, Dr Emma Beuckels and Ellen Mertens will examine how (mis)information circulates within digital platforms, while also highlighting the emotional meaning and value parents attribute to the digital content they encounter. Learn how digital platforms shape contemporary parenting norms and reflect on how you can recognise their constraints and harness their opportunities to support parents in context-sensitive, evidence-based, and empowering ways.
Part 2 concludes with a short, moderated question and answer session with the presenters of Social Media, (Mis)information, and Maternal Agency.
- Describe the key principles of the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.
- Recognise the importance of subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions.
- Identify the healthcare professional’s role in implementation of the WHO Code.
- Explain how bioethical principles can be used as a framework for evaluation and decision-making in relation to the WHO Code.
- Understand the role of social media and marketing on digital platforms in shaping contemporary parenting norms and practices, including infant feeding.
- Recognise parents’ agency in interpreting and negotiating online content, moving beyond simplified narratives of influence to appreciate the content’s ability to contribute to parents’ active meaning-making.
- Identify the dominant maternal ideals promoted on social media, such as intensive motherhood, and understand how these norms shape parents’ decision-making and experiences of infant feeding.
- Define practical strategies to engage with parents about social media use in a supportive, non-judgemental, and context-sensitive way.
Presenters:
Emma Beuckels, PhD
Dr Emma Beuckels is the head of the Parents and Platforms Research Lab within the research group Center of Persuasive Communication (CEPEC) at Ghent University where she received her PhD in September 2020. She leads an interdisciplinary programme of research on how digital media environments shape contemporary parenting. Primarily using audience research, her work examines how the platformisation and commodification of family life mutually shapes the online and offline lives of parents, children, and adolescents, situated at the intersection of media studies, family studies, and consumer culture.
Ellen Mertens, MSc
Ms Ellen Mertens holds a master’s degree in communication sciences, with a specialisation in communication management. In her master’s thesis, she investigated the impact of momfluencers’ breastfeeding content on their followers. Through both her thesis research and an internship at the research group CEPEC, she developed a strong interest in academic research.
In November 2023, she started as a PhD researcher at the Department of Communication Sciences within the CEPEC research group. Her doctoral research focuses on the role of momfluencers in the infant feeding journeys of first-time mothers.
Lilly Hubschman-Shahar (moderator) DNP, RN, NNP-BC, IBCLC, PMH-C
Dr Lilly Hubschman-Shahar is an IBCLC and a nurse practitioner with a career-long dedication to maternal/child health. For over 15 years, she has delivered high-impact patient care and provided strategic guidance to healthcare organisations. Her work is grounded in her commitment to human-centred design and systems thinking. She is the author of peer-reviewed journal articles and has been featured as a subject matter expert in print and digital media.
Pursuant to the IBCLC® certification programme’s third-party accreditor’s standards and credentialing best practices, the presenter for the webinar does not have access to IBCLC examination content nor participates in IBCLC examination development. The IBCLC certification programme is governed and administered by the IBCLC Commission.