Joan Ellen Armstrong asks some really good questions about how to get the
experience needed to take the exam, and gives me a chance to elaborate a
little on my earlier post regarding the IBLCE hours requirement.

First I want to note that while a person could "fudge" hours of practice to
meet IBLCE exam requirements I certainly would not suggest it.  A deliberate
misrepresentation on one's exam application would certainly disqualify that
candidate from sitting the exam, possibly for a very long time.

Since I believe that most folks in our field are not just nice but honest :-)
I would say that an equally important reason to assess one's contact hours
honestly is that the exam is clinically-based and the time spent working with
breastfeeding mothers and babies is *what you need* to do well on the exam.
  Each individual's learning curve and learning style is somewhat different.
 There are probably people who can do well on the exam with fewer clinical
hours.  There are also undoubtedly people who will need more clinical
experience than is required before they can expect to do well on the exam.
 But the number of clinical hours as set by IBLCE is based on the actual
qualifications and performance of previous candidates - it's not arbitrary.
 IBLCE wants people to know that hands-on experience is vitally important to
pass the exam.

Okay, on to the question about how to get those contact hours.  An active La
Leche League Leader can expect to spend several hours a week with phone
counseling and Group Leading.  The IBLCE Candidate Information Guide notes
that a typical number of hours may be as many as 500 per year, but each
candidate must assess her own experience.  A Leader who does additional work
(that is, stuff that most Leaders don't do, like working with WIC peer
counselors, teaching additional classes, seeing moms in the hospital, doing a
lot of home visits, running an active pump rental depot) should carefully
document this experience so that she can get "full credit" for the hours she
puts in when tallying up all that experience.  I hope LactNetters will write
in with their suggestions.

As far as supervision of clinical experience:  Jeannette Panchula in her post
makes a good point - that those of us who started out in the field several
years ago did a lot of stuff "by the seat of our pants."    She describes
someone who never worked under a trained LC but got her experience hours
nonetheless.  A person's place of employment for getting those hours makes a
difference;  having supervision for some aspect of your work, even if it's
not specifically of the breastfeeding aspect, is certainly important.  So,
for example, a postpartum nurse who gradually became the "breastfeeding
expert" and decided to set up a pump rental business, teach classes, etc.
would make me pretty comfortable - if I were the one reading her application.
 I have talked to people who call the IBLCE office and want to know, can they
count the hours they've spent helping their friends and relatives breastfeed?
 Or, someone with no HCP background and no accredited volunteer experience
("but I was a member") manages to start a pump rental business - well, no,
you can't just go off helping people breastfeed, with absolutely no
accountability to anyone for your work, and expect those hours to count.

Sorry to go on for so long.  I sort of automatically launch into the spiel
that I use on the phone at work at least a few times a week.  Kathy A. has
suggested that we consider it for a future IBLCE column in JHL so you haven't
heard the last of it!

Mary Renard