Lactation Consultants
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Should I Care About State Licensing for IBCLCs?
In 2014, the Rhode Island General Assembly authorized the Department of Health director to create a framework for the licensing of lactation consultants. In 2015, IBCLC Michael W. Fink of Memorial Hospital was first in the United States to be state-licensed to practice as an IBCLC. This is a breakthrough for IBCLCs all over the United States. Isn’t My IBCLC Certificate Enough? While the title IBCLC after your name gives you credibility, you are competing with a range of healthcare professionals and even lay people who may call themselves lactation consultants. Usually, state license guidelines and regulations clearly define who or who many not call him or herself a lactation…
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Obamacare and the Rise of Lactation Consultants
As the great Winston S. Churchill would put it “ Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country could have” – US President Barack Obama couldn’t agree more when he signed in support of Obamacare on March 23, 2010, which was subsequently approved by the Supreme Court last June 28, 2012. This law is also commonly known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or simply Affordable Care Act (ACA) which regulates health insurance companies; in which some would tend to rip off clients for profit. Obamacare offers timely and just regulations that help protect and ensure you get the right health insurance benefits and coverage that you…
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Lactation Consultants Boosts Mothers’ Contact with Newborns
Improving Mothers’ Contact with Newborns The recent statistics coming out of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center are further evidence that lactation consultants are key to improving successful contact with newborns and their mothers. In the last two years, since it adopted the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative begun at NHRMC’s Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital, New Hanover Regional Medical Center has seen a sharp increase in mothers exclusively breastfeeding. Before the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative was implemented, only 38 percent of mothers were breastfeeding exclusively after their release from New Hanover Regional Medical Center. The number of mothers exclusively breastfeeding today? 78 percent. That means more than twice as many mothers at this…
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The Lactation Police
As someone who see lactation consultants as a group of professionals trying to help weary mothers and uncooperative babies, I hate to see them reflected poorly in the news. In the last week, The Washington Post published two articles that portrayed lactation consultants in a negative light. The first of these articles, Your breast-feeding and bottle feeding comments are unwelcome, calls lactation consultants “lactation torturers.” The second post, My husband calls them breast-feeding bullies, says that many see lactation consultants as medical professionals “who are seen as pushing breastfeeding by any means necessary.” As a lactation consultant, it is important to remember how often mothers feel like failures when they are unable…
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The Nine Roles of a Lactation Consultant
The following are the nine roles of a lactation consultant as defined by the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA). Advocate: The IBCLC is the advocate for breastfeed¬ing women, infants, children, families, and communities (IBLCE, 2003, 2008; ILCA, 2006). The IBCLC role is integral to the function of the mother’s and infant’s healthcare team. Clinical Expert: As a clinical expert in the management of breastfeeding and human lactation, the IBCLC is trained to counsel mothers and families on initiation, exclusivity, and duration of breastfeeding, and to assist amidst any difficul¬ties or high-risk situations. IBCLCs are sensitive to and support the needs of mothers, infants, children, and various family structures in working…
