Leah Marie,

I enjoyed reading your post.  It sounds like you are a much needed, wonderful resource in your community.  

In my mind, the discussion isn't about us vs. them or who should or shouldn't help moms.  We need lots of helpers!  We all have different strengths and weaknesses, and we also have different communication styles.  There's room for all lof us, and it's great when we can work together. 

But I do think it's important that moms understand scope of practice.  I agree that not all IBCLCs are up to date, but they should be.  When you wrote, "I don't care if a CLC inflates her certification (something I don't do) as long as she is helping the mothers she works with," I chuckled.  I give more accurate information on a variety of topics than one of our local doctors, so can I call myself a doctor?  I give way better information about breastfeeding and its effect on baby teeth than one of our local pediatric dentists, so can I call myself a dentist?  It's unethical and sometimes illegal to inflate credentials.  *That* is what this conversation is about in my mind.  

I hope hope hope the CLC training course and other similar courses will take the first step in stopping the confusion by teaching the difference during training (more than a blanket statement at the beginning), teach how to accurately communicate the differences to clients, and that it is never okay to inflate credentials.  I hope they will also police, so to speak, their various graduates who post blogs that cause confusion.  When an IBCLC is acting beyond her scope, we are required to call her on it.  Hopefully other certifications will do the same.   

Lastly, I misspoke on my previous post about requirements to take the ACL course.  The actual requirements are stated on the website.

Warmly,
Amy Peterson, IBCLC
Idaho

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