Dear Lactnetters,
       I apologize for being late entering into this discussion.  It is
something about which I feel passionately for many reasons.  I would like to
share a couple of them.
       First of all, I love being a Lactation Consultant.  I have been
working with mothers and babies for nineteen years, have been IBCLC for 11
years, attend conferences, read journals, try to keep up with lactnet.  I
read the WOmanly Art years before I even considered having children just
because I thought breastfeeding was so amazing. I recently completed a
Masters Degree in Health Education so that I can position myself to set up
breastfeeding programs and teach aspiring LCs. I am in it because I love it.
       However, reality is, I need to earn a living.  My husband was one of
those actors who know they're not likely to make a living :-), then went back
to school to get a Masters Degree in education while we were raising our
three babies.  Now he's teaching, but we have three kids who someday, God
willing, will go to college, and have grocery bills today.  It makes me very
sad that, despite much investment in experience and education and a devotion
for the field, I can barely make a living in my chosen profession.  It makes
me very sad that I have seen good LCs leave the profession because they could
no longer afford the luxury of practicing in their field.
       Molly Pessl brought up a good point in the closing talk at the ILCA
conference.  How many people today are dreaming of becoming a Lactation
Consultant, the way that young people dream of becoming nurses, teachers, FBI
agents.  How many 20-somethings are in our field?  As the pioneering LCs with
the volunteer background gray, who will step up?
       I believe that we NEED to establish ourselves as credible
professionals in order to continue to flourish and grow, to end the disparity
in breastfeeding assistance available to women of different income groups, to
allow intelligent professionals who do not have other sources of income to
join us as we serve mothers and babies.
       We need to be good at what we do, and we need to be paid appropriately
for our valuable services.  In my not so humble opinion...

       -Debi Page Ferrarello, RN, MS, IBCLC
       Breastfeeding Resources, Inc.
       furiously writing grants that include appropriate salaries for our new
non-profit breastfeeding center in southeastern PA

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