In a nutshell, and with my unavoidable USA take on things:

(1)  The ILCA Standards of Practice are our "shoulds:" a best-practices
guideline of how IBCLCs should be conducting themselves professionally.  If
you don't follow them, your colleagues can scold you and gossip about you.

(2)  The IBLCE Code of Ethics are our "musts:" a mandate of professional
lactation consultant conduct.  If you don't follow it, your colleagues can
file a written complaint about you with IBLCE, and you could have your IBCLC
certification yanked.

(3)  Now -- without re-opening the can of worms -- a third type of document
to direct and govern appropriate IBCLC professionalism would be a "Scope of
Practice."  Who should write it and administer it, and what the sanctions
are for failure to comply, are under something of a debate right now.
(Customarily, a scope of practice is administered by a licensing board,
which can yank your license for failure to comply.  But IBCLCs are  not
licensed.)  So let's just put that hot potato back on the stove for now.

(4)  One's national (or regional or state or local ) law trumps all of these
documents.  If you don't follow the law, you can be sued or jailed.  So, if
the place where you live and work provides for a different legal scenario
(i.e. privacy mandates) than any of these practice guidelines, you can (and
should) follow the law.

(5)  If one is a member of a few professions (lawyer and IBCLC; nurse and
IBCLC; midwife and IBCLC), you will generally be held to the "most generous"
standard.  For example, an RN/IBCLC can say:  I refuse to hand out formula
marketing bags, because my IBCLC Code of Ethics requires that I uphold the
International [WHO] Code even tho my RN scope of practice is silent on the
matter ..."

(6)  Last but not least:  *My* interpretation of the "musts" and "shoulds"
is that an IBCLC does not operate in a vacuum.  S/he pulls other health care
providers into the loop as appropriate (by sending reports, or making phone
calls, or stopping colleagues for a chat in the hallway).

Liz Brooks, JD, IBCLC
Wyndmoor, PA, USA

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