Friends,

I am very pleased that AETNA will now reimburse for IBCLC services. Where I
practice in Spokane WA. until this announcement Aenta would only cover a
lactation consultation with a Nurse Practitioner. This is huge for all
IBCLCs in our country.
Liz Brooks I appreciate what you said in your posts.
Thank you, Marsha Walker and Judy Gutowski who have worked tirelessly for
the IBCLC credential .  I aslo suggest that  all 10,000+ IBCLCs in the US
should also thank them.
I am dismayed at the some of the negative reactions to this. The reality of
this decision is more women will have access to IBCLC care. Outside of NYC
maybe more will be able to start a private practices or a group practices.
 For those of you that are lucky enough to work in areas of the country
where women can afford to privately pay perhaps creating Concierge
Practices that support a women during and after her pregnancy, I suggest
you think outside the box. For those of us in the US where mothers for the
most part are not affluent, the Aetna decision will  allow up to 100,000
women to seek IBCLC care and as Liz pointed out maybe we will be seeing
them before the train wrecks.
Now for the the other issues - there has been posts about how long a IBCLC
visit should take. 3hrs, 2 hrs, 1hr??? Honestly no one has ever collected
outcome data on this. I challenge IBCLCs to do this.  There is also no
outcome data on what type of IBCLCs is most effective. I challenge you to
collect this type of data.
Our profession needs data and there are now 2 journals in which to submit
to be published.
 As far as not being able to afford to attend a conference. I was in that
situation about 14 years ago, so I decided to volunteer in my professional
organization, ILCA since 1997 and USLCA since 2006. ILCA/USLCA is your
professional organization get involved, join and let your voice be heard.

Respectfully,

Karen Querna, RN, BSN, IBCLC

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