In a message dated 11/11/0 2:51:43 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< I honestly think that there is no hope of IBCLC really meaning anything,
professionally speaking, unless it is earned after completion of a recognized
course of study at the university level.  This is what makes us different
from all other health care professions and will continue to set us apart and
keep us from being employed in the health care field.  >>

Sharon,
This is not exactly true. There is a similar situation (in the US) regarding
midwives. Certified professional midwives are not university trained, but
rather are trained in the apprentice model. Certified nurse midwives are
trained at the university level. Depending on the state in which they
practice, scope of practice and even legality of practice varies for both. In
my very personal experience, it is the CPM who primarily practice in the
midwifery model and protect normal birth. Many CNM's practice in the medical
model, which as we all know is more invasive and leads to less bf success.
    The point I am making is that breastfeeding, like birth, is not an
illness. I am very concerned with the idea that we can normalize bf while
medicalizing the education of those who support and promote bf. I think we
are buying a false premise which ultimately does not serve bf or women and
their babies. In my state, there are very few medically trained midwives who
practice in a midwifery model. The hope for normal birth rests w/ those who
practice in the midwifery model. So, where would the hope for normalizing bf
lie? Right now, I think that many LC's, both RN (or other HCP) and non-RN,
retain the normalcy of bf b/c of their own bf experiences. What would happen,
I wonder, if being an LC became just one more medical profession?


<<Anyways, I don't think it is a question of what kind of a background makes
for a "better" LC - I think that we all agree that there are many skills
involved on many different levels.  We need desperately to find a way to make
this into a real profession and I think that we need to do it pretty soon, or
it will become a nursing specialty, by default.  I know that there are a lot
of discussions going on about this at IBLCE and ILCA.  What the next step is,
I don't really know.>>

I do agree with you about this concern--becoming just one more specialty in
nursing. The same is what has been attempted with midwifery. It's just that I
do not see the university approach as one which will eliminate this risk.
Who, then, will we prevent from becoming an LC? Most likely those women who
believe in mother-infant attachment and ecological, normal bf and who come to
this field through their own mothering experiences. Only those who already
have a medical education as a foundation would be able to do the additional
work required to be an LC, while still maintaining attachment and normal bf.
How is this different from LC becoming a nursing specialty?

I am not sure there is a good solution, unless we are willing to become, all
of us, advocates for normalcy in birth and breastfeeding. Unless we are
willing to reject the false premise that these are medical events or
illnesses and behave as if they belong in a realm of their own, which
requires specific training of its own unique kind.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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