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?
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
You do not need another Leader to certify your hours. If you are an active Leader, the IBLCE will just accept that.
In order to be a LLL Leader, you need to have breastfed for at least 9 months, you have to attend the series of meetings and be a dues paying member. That is in order to qualify to begin the leadership process. The process itself takes anywhere from 6 to 12 months, depending on how motivated you are.
Oh really? I did not really understand that part, thank you. I have breastfed my children, one for 14 months. Do you know if the 90 hours of education is provided by LLL or is that separate? I think I read the university of San Diego offers a lactation educator course and its online. I wonder if that can fulfill the 90 hours of education or part of it. With starting nursing school this Fall I might have to take the 12 months, but that is ok. I just want to make some progress! Thanks again!
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Being a LLL Leader provides the consultancy hours, that's it. You still need to do your lactation specific education elsewhere. I did mine through breast ed/health e-learning.
I did mine through lactation education resources, it's online, it's approved for ibclc and they have opportunities in some locations to pay for an internship/mentorship. It was around $800 plus cost of books and I was able to finish it within a year. Of course you know I waited until the last minute and ended up doing the majority of the work in the last 6 weeks of my year :-)
I had some time off from school and sat down and spent everyday doing it.
With pathway 3 I was looking into paying for the internship but like I said I couldn't really commit to a schedule since I wasn't sure of my nursing class schedule so I didn't follow through with it.
Ok, maybe I should start off doing the education portion online. I could probably get a good chunk done this Summer while Im out of school. I will still look into LLL. It just stinks because using LLL hours you still need 1000, whereas pathway 3 with a mentor you only need 500. I guess I should start on the part I can get done now, the education. Thank you for all the help ladies! I am going to look into both courses you listed.
I would advise focusing on nursing school, then going pathway 1 by finding a job in OB. Then you get the experience you need as a floor nurse for both IBCLC and for your cnm. Working full time it should not take you long to get the 1000 hours.
klone, MSN, RN
14,857 Posts
You do not need another Leader to certify your hours. If you are an active Leader, the IBLCE will just accept that.
In order to be a LLL Leader, you need to have breastfed for at least 9 months, you have to attend the series of meetings and be a dues paying member. That is in order to qualify to begin the leadership process. The process itself takes anywhere from 6 to 12 months, depending on how motivated you are.