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 I: A WHO Code Primer provides a concise introduction to 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 II: Social Media, (Mis)information, and Maternal Agency within a global public health framework and highlights the responsibility of IBCLCs and other healthcare professionals with regard to the WHO Code in various contexts.

Part II: 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 examples from recent qualitative research, the webinar explores how infant feeding is represented online and how these practices are framed, aestheticised, and increasingly commercialised within digital environments.

Learning Objectives

By the end of Part I, participants will be able to:

1) Describe the key principles of the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.
2) Recognise the importance of subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions.
3) Identify the healthcare professional's role in implementation of the WHO Code.
4) Explain how bioethical principles can be used as a framework for evaluation and decision-making in relation to the WHO Code.

By the end of Part II, participants will be able to:

1) Understand the role of social media and marketing on digital platforms in shaping contemporary parenting norms and practices that influence infant feeding.
2) 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.
3) 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.
4) Define practical strategies to engage with parents about social media use in a supportive, non-judgmental, and context-sensitive way.

This nursing continuing professional development activity was approved by the Virginia Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Commission on Accreditation. This enduring material is approved from August 24, 2026, to August 23, 2028.

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