Theresa Yaroshevich wrote eloquently about the problems in setting up the
IBCLC profession in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and others have shared
their concerns about other countries in Eastern Europe.  The words that come
to mind to summarise this are "isolation" and "frustration".

 

As regards "isolation" - 

I can relate to this from similar personal experience.  I first certified
IBCLC in 1985 after sitting the exam in Melbourne, at the far end of
Australian from where I lived.  In Townville in North Queensland, where I
then lived, there was a lack of textbooks and the ABA counsellor who owned
the only copy of Ruth Lawrence's book had loaned it to someone else, who was
in hospital and her husband couldn't find it for me.  Between the exam and
receiving certification, I did a speaking tour to Alice Springs in Central
Australia and was asked to speak to local midwives at the hospital on the
new lactation consultant profession. Beforehand I'd been briefed that there
would be resistance to the idea of a new profession, which they would see as
an encroachment on their turf.  They were polite, but they did not welcome
the idea of a new profession.

When I certified, as one of the first 10 IBCLCs in Australia, I was the only
IBCLC in the entire northern half of Australia.  Yes, the only one.  I had
no colleagues at all.  Did I receive referrals as an IBCLC?  No, not
initially.  I did have people contact me occasionally, on the assumption
that this new level I'd achieved would be free, since existing breastfeeding
support (from ABA, then NMAA) was free.  There was this concept in the
community that breastfeeding help should be free. There was no way I could
have charged money, and I saw my first priority the care of the mothers and
babies and so I worked for free.  The first time I was paid for a
consultation was in 1989 in Brisbane.  The next two IBCLCs to certify in the
vast state of Queensland were midwives or nurses and at least one of them
was working in a hospital at least 10 hours away, though not in the IBCLC
role.  Most of the early IBCLCs in private practice found they needed to
have other work to support their work with breastfeeding mothers and babies.
The types of work were diverse - ESL teaching, freelance writing,
interviewing for a government department, nursing shifts.  Even today,
private practice in my city is nowhere near an income a person could live
on.

 

As regards your frustration - 

I believe it is important for all of you who have posted on the issues of
the 2012 exam requirements to send your Lactnet posts to IBCLC, the
certifying organisation.  The address has already been posted on Lactnet.
IBLCE needs to know your concerns, officially.  I would suggest you also
copy this correspondence to the IBLCE director for the European region.

 

Virginia

Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA 

Brisbane, Qld, Australia 

E: [log in to unmask] 

 

Date:    Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:21:36 -0400

From:    Theresa Yaroshevich < >

Subject: /question if I can ask

 

Yes, these new requirements represent an insurmountable barrier for the
profession here in the Former Soviet Union (FSU).

 

Like Christina in Bulgaria, I trained with the LLL Peer Counselor program.
In the past 6 months, I've trained 20 Peer Counselors in Moscow and Minsk,
with another training planned for Kiev, now that we've relocated to Ukraine.

 

La Leche League is just beginning to have a presence.  There are two Leaders
in Ukraine, and 1 in Russia and several applicants.

 

There are currently 12 ILCA members (and no IBCLCs) in the 9-time-zone span
of Russian, Ukraine & Belarus.  (The nearest IBCLC is in Lithuania or
Romania, 400 miles away.)  I have applied to sit for the exam in San
Antonio.  If I pass, I will be the only one in this vast geographic area ...
and I'm not even a citizen of this part of the world (I'm only married to
one).  The thought of being the lone certified consultant scares me, as
there are others who have vastly more experience than I do.  As Maya
mentioned, there are so many consultants with talent, experience and
knowledge -- that they've gained without the benefit of any texts on the
subject.

 

It was only last fall when most of them first learned -- during Maya
Bolman's visit to Minsk & Moscow -- that such a thing as IBCLC existed.  Her
presentation was "Yes, there is such a profession!"  Many women were
inspired to dream that they could one day be a part of something bigger,
something real, something international.  Maya has spent 10 months
persuading, coaching, encouraging and inspiring ... and then the new rules
appeared.  These not-yet-1-year-old dreams are dying an untimely death.
Maya and I have talked to many who are angry and discouraged by the new
rules.  Now, instead of focusing on gaining recognition and support for what
they do, they don't feel that this exam is accessible to them.  Or they
worry that no one here even acknowledges it, so what's the point of trying.

 

Even without the new exam requirements, the language barrier is significant.
There are just a handful of consultants who speak English well enough to
understand and fill out the ILCA application, or wade through the
complexities of the IBCLC exam *application*, let alone the exam itself.
But there must be a few people to take the exam in English in order to make
it "worthwhile" to translate the exam into Russian.  Because I'm an American
& native English speaker, I have access to resources that my fellow
breastfeeding counselors/consultants in the FSU can only dream about.

 

The financial component is also a significant disincentive, as there would
be no corresponding raise in level of income with IBCLC certification.

 

Then we need to talk about where to obtain CERPs.  Even those who aren't
convinced that they want to take the exam are very tempted to come to the
conferences.  To come from Eastern Europe to the ILCA conference in the US
costs at least $2500.  (And that isn't even considering the time and expense
and difficulty of getting a visa.)  To put that in perspective, this figure
could easily be half or 1/3 of a years' wages for some.  The VELB conference
would be less, but still a huge investment.

 

Just to give everyone a broader picture of the situation, in addition to
what Christina and Maya have already so accurately described.

 

Theresa Yaroshevich

LLL Peer Counselor Administrator

Russia, Ukraine & Belarus

 


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