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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