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Concurrent Session

Clinical Skills (Ethical and Legal Issues)

Recording - Virtual Offering

Instagram and the IBCLC: Ethics, Privacy, Misinformation and Maternal Mental Health

Tuesday, August 15, 2023
10:15 AM – 11:45 AM PDT
CE: 1.5 CERP
E-CERP
Learning Level: Beginner
This presentation explores the kind of parenting-related information and marketing that new parents are being exposed to on Instagram, and how it may be influencing their parenting choices and their mental health. The presentation also addresses considerations for IBCLCs and other lactation professionals who post on social media, including compliance with the WHO-Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and IBLCE's Code of Professional Conduct.

Learning Objectives:

  • List at least 3 considerations professionals who work with parents antenatally and postnatally should think about before posting information on social media.
  • Describe the IBLCE advisory opinion on social media use and how to uphold the World Health Organization Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes when Posting on social media.
  • Describe how parents are marketed to on Instagram and how their mental health and parenting choices can be affected by the content they view.
  • Explain the meaning of the term 'sharenting' and outline some of its potential pitfalls.
  • Describe 2 ways in which breastfeeding and parenting self-efficacy can be undermined by Instagram use.