I think Gail is quite right in that there is certainly a benefit to an
MD to be iBCLC. There may well a benefit to an RN, RD or other
credentialed HCP as well, depending on what the employer values. But,
the IBCLC itself cannot qualify as a credential, as much as most of us
might have once thought it did. That, in my opinion, is not an accident
of circumstance, growth or evolution--it is surely by design. As the
profession grew, it was designed to make it much easier for HCPs than
for anyone else to become IBCLCs . If it was meant to be a stand-alone
profession, this would never have been done. If this profession was
intended to stand on it's own, then anyone in control of credentialing
would have designed qualifications that took into account the needs of
mothers and babies and the broad range of backgrounds from which IBCLCs
might come, rather than using nursing training as a foundation for
building the credential. That having been done--there was no other
possible outcome but the one before us now.
I guess for me, the question is this--what will we do? Will RNs, MDs
and other HCPs stand beside those of us w/o those credentials and
demand complete overhaul? Do our fellow IBCLCs see the value in our
broad range of backgrounds and see that as something to protect or will
they see it as unnecessary? If we do not completely remodel our
credentialing as well as our marketing, IBCLC will never be an
independent profession. I think we are at a crossroads--IBCLC is an
add-on credential grounded in the medicalization of birth and
breastfeeding, designed to serve the status-quo or it is an independent
profession, grounded in our obligation to protect the biological norm
and designed to serve mothers and babies.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA
Intuitive Parenting Network LLC
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