Any certified Lactation Consultants here?

BSNtobe2009 · Oct 12, 2006

I have to post, and I want everyone to get a good laugh from it.

When I gave birth to my daughter, I didn't even know there was a such thing as a lactation consultant. She just kind of breezed in, showed me how to work the seemingly complicated equipment, and popped in for a few every day to see how the breast feeding was coming.

I was thinking, "Gosh, she doesn't do much, she probably doesn't make much teaching women about breast feeding and she probably just has a certification or something".

BOY was I wrong...I went on salary.com and was floored to see they were all RN's w/ this specialized training and make more than regular RN's.

tulip928 · Oct 12, 2006

I had my 3 babies back in the 70's and 80's, and taught myself how to breastfeed, relying on a book or two for advice. Nowadays, the hospitals have lactation consultants on staff, and a lot of consultants also make home visits. I guess not everybody has as easy a time breastfeeding as I did. Also, there are sometimes special circumstances where this specialty would really help.

PMFB-RN, RN · Oct 12, 2006

Sorry I don't know much about lactation cosultants but I wanted to add this. While doing OB/GYN clinical in nursing school one father insisted that his wife didn't need a lactation consultant becuase he was a dairy farmer and knew all there was to know about lactation. He even had a masters degree in dairy science.

Sounds like a good job. I wonder how new moms would feel about a lactation consultant RN who happend to be male?

tinyscrafts · Oct 12, 2006

There are some male ones. Dr. Jay Gordon (pediatrician) comes to mind. I think he was the first man to sit for the IBCLC exam.

The hours required can be massive! You can count all the hours you spend at the hospital helping moms (if you are L&D or PP) with breastfeeding, breastfeeding classes you teach, or La leche league meetings you facilitate if you are a LLL leader...

CMCRN · Oct 12, 2006

I am an RN, BSN, IBCLC. I first sat for the exam in 1995, resat in 2005. You must recert by exam every 10 years. You may recert by education hours CERPS, at the 5 year interval. I am a long time L&D nurse, I had to go back and figure how many days how many patients average and how many minutes per day spent on breastfeeding etc. It was very involved. What area do you work in tulip? I think I had to have my boss stipulate to my hours estimation.

tulip928 · Oct 12, 2006

I am an RN, BSN, IBCLC. I first sat for the exam in 1995, resat in 2005. You must recert by exam every 10 years. You may recert by education hours CERPS, at the 5 year interval. I am a long time L&D nurse, I had to go back and figure how many days how many patients average and how many minutes per day spent on breastfeeding etc. It was very involved. What area do you work in tulip? I think I had to have my boss stipulate to my hours estimation.

I was in NICU for a year and a half, but didn't get to work with the moms very much at all regarding the breastmilk/pumping aspect. Although my nursing license is still active, right now I'm working as a postpartum doula in which I do a lot of one-on-one teaching and support with breastfeeding. I was reading the guidelines - I would have to be under supervision of someone, so I'm thinking maybe (?) I could coordinate with a certified consultant through the local LaLeche League for documenting myself (?). What do you think?

mitchsmom · Oct 13, 2006

I was in NICU for a year and a half, but didn't get to work with the moms very much at all regarding the breastmilk/pumping aspect. Although my nursing license is still active, right now I'm working as a postpartum doula in which I do a lot of one-on-one teaching and support with breastfeeding. I was reading the guidelines - I would have to be under supervision of someone, so I'm thinking maybe (?) I could coordinate with a certified consultant through the local LaLeche League for documenting myself (?). What do you think?

Hi,

I'm not CMCRN but I'm also an IBCLC. I don't think your regular bf counseling hours have to be directly supervised; for instance I got most of my hours from being a bf group leader & those are not directly supervised.

They did have a pathway that was for people who were in sort of an apprenticeship situation but that pathway (F) is "not available while it is being assessed".

You could ask but I sort of doubt that you could "coordinate with a certified consultant through the local LaLeche League" for documenting your hours unless you decided to actually pursue LLL leadership (which is a way that a lot of people get their hours - the last I knew they give 500/year for Leader work, if it is something you are at all interested in).

If you are a doula, the IBLCE may consider your credentialing body or your contact there to be your "supervision" if that is the route by which you provide bf counseling. I would just call the IBLCE up and ask them. I am sure they've had doulas sit the exam and they would know how to answer your questions and you'd be getting the answers from the source :)

Also, it sounds like maybe you did read it but you may find more info in the Candidate Info Guide here: http://www.iblce.org/documents.htm

I don't know if that helped any but feel free to ask if I might be able to answer any other questions or you can also pm me :)

tulip928 · Oct 13, 2006

Thank you Mitchsmom and everybody else for your input!

zahryia, LPN · Oct 13, 2006

I'm curious. Even if you're an RN, do moms tend to disregard lactation consultants who are not mothers themselves?

hospitalstaph · Oct 13, 2006

I'm curious. Even if you're an RN, do moms tend to disregard lactation consultants who are not mothers themselves?

I don't think that they would, after all Dr. Jack Newman is awesome and he is not a mother:)

T

klone, MSN, RN · Oct 14, 2006

I'm curious. Even if you're an RN, do moms tend to disregard lactation consultants who are not mothers themselves?

IME, I don't get asked too frequently if I have children or if I've breastfed. I've found that confidence and knowledge reassure them, and personal experience is less important. One of the best L&D nurses I know has never been through childbirth, herself (sadly, she was infertile, so adopted after years of trying). I know several L&D nurses who have their own kids, and are cold, brusque and unfeeling with their patients. So, in my experience, that's not very relevant.

I have been working on getting the consultancy hours since 1999, and I plan to sit for the IBCLC exam next July.