Lactation Consultant Pathway help needed

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Hi everyone!

I will be starting nursing school this Fall!! My goal is to finish my ADN, and go on to RN-MSN. I would like to one day be a CNM. I know that those things are far off, however I have been looking into becoming a LC for years now. I am having trouble finding a way to accomplish it BEFORE Im a RN.

I understand there are 3 different pathways to take. Pathway one requires, already being in the health care field, which I am not.

Pathway 2 requires a school that offers the program. One near me actually does, but they require you to have at least a BS.

And then there is pathway 3. I would love to try and start this route. It requires some traditional schooling, and clinical hours with a mentor. I already have completed most courses necessary, but I need serious help finding a mentor.

Has anyone become a Lactation Consultant through Pathway 3? Would it help me to become a Certified Lactation Education Counselor first?

Thank you for any input!

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

You do not have to be a health professional to use pathway 1, you can still earn consultancy hours as a lay counselor (for example, a WIC Peer Counselor or a La Leche League Leader). Both of those organizations will earn you 500 consultancy hours/year of active involvement (eta: the number of hours given per year may have changed - when I was accruing hours, it was 500/year, but they also required a LOT more hours than they do now in order to be eligible to take the exam).

This thread might get more hits if you posted it in the OB nurse forum. I bet most people here have no idea what IBCLC is.

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......

This thread might get more hits if you posted it in the OB nurse forum. I bet most people here have no idea what IBCLC is.

I'm glad I'm not most people :)

But yes, posting this on another forum might improve your chances of getting the info you seek. Good Luck.

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I'm going through pathway three, while in nursing school. I completed 90 hours of training, have everything but the 500 clinical hours since I have no experience and even when applying for wic I didn't get the job (those positions are few and far between and often require bilingual individuals). I attempted to get an internship to satisfy that requirement but I haven't heard back and I'm not sure how I can do it alongside nursing.... My goal was to be ibclc BEFORE graduation, but I'm thinking that's not going to happen.

Anyways, I think those 500 clinical hours are the hardest task to finish.

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It's possible that some lactation training programs offer clinical mentors depending on where you live. I know I was going through my program to try to set this up.

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Did you not get a mentor to get your clinical hours? I thought that is how Pathway 3 worked, am I wrong? Thank you for the idea of seeing if the program offered near me will allow me to utilize someone as my mentor. I too am hoping to graduate being IBCLC or at least test the July afterwards. I do not have classes to take this Summer and want to try and be productive!

I am not sure how to move this post to another forum. This is only my first or second thread :)

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I haven't actively looked beyond the internship opportunity, I was accepted into nursing school right when I finished the 90 training course and am still completely unsure of my scheduling availability so I've sort of stopped pursuing that for the moment.

I know you might have some luck with a la lehe league leader. Have you found a 45 or 90 hour training course?

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

LLL Leaders are not accepted mentors. They require a recertified IBCLC for mentorships.

IBLCE does not provide mentors, or even give you lists of mentors. You are required to find them on your own (which, as DouxMusique mentioned, might be provided as part of an academic program in lactation).

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Doesn't being an aftive LLL leader give you some contact hours?

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Doesn't being an aftive LLL leader give you some contact hours?

Yes, that's how I earned approximately 3500 of the required 4000 contact hours. I suggested that to her as a possible option using Pathway 1. Perhaps I misunderstood you - I thought you were suggesting contacting a LLL Leader to be a mentor under Pathway 3.

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Yes, that's how I earned approximately 3500 of the required 4000 contact hours. I suggested that to her as a possible option using Pathway 1. Perhaps I misunderstood you - I thought you were suggesting contacting a LLL Leader to be a mentor under Pathway 3.

I just didn't properly type out my thought :-).

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My problem is I am not sure where to find a person who has been recertified at least once that can mentor me. They have to be approved to mentor me through the board. I can work on becoming a LLL leader. I would have to find out how to go about doing that, and then I would still need a leader to certify my hours... It just seems very hard to accomplish without already being one of the approved health professions.

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