Thanks for the clarification of Nikki's post, Karleen.  The CDC outline of
the credential is, of necessity, brief. Knowing that the CLC course is a
week long puts that into perspective.  It sounds a lot more within reach of
people who may not have the breastfeeding background of the lay counsellors
and IBCLCs.

I know that I wouldn't have met the pre-requisites for becoming an IBCLC
under current regulations, or at least not without a lot of expensive
courses.   I think the IBCLC credential has perhaps gone in a different
direction from what was envisaged in the 1980s... maybe not a bad thing,
but to many enthusiastic breastfeeding supporters these days, it seems like
a mountain too hard to climb.

There is a role for several different niches of lactation support. As we
know, even a supportive peer can help.  My first encouragement for
successful breastfeeding came from a rather uneducated young mother when I
was pregnant, and I remembered her words for years afterwards.

Often it boils down the individual's caring and ongoing education (to avoid
giving misinformation), not necessarily the letters after her name.
 However understanding what the letters mean indicates the level of help a
person *should* be able to give.

Most of the mothers I see don't need a high level of skills, just support
to get over a small crisis of confidence.   And there is occasionally the
stuff that most of us encounter only a few times in a lifetime, ouch - "and
that's what all the training was for!"

Best wishes
Jacquie Nutt  IBCLC
South Africa

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