Comments are made regarding the IBCLC's ethical requirements when
discussing milk sharing options with a mother.  Can the IBCLC do it?

The IBLCE Code of Professional Conduct, the IBLCE Scope of Practice (both
mandatory practice-guiding documents) and the ILCA Standards of Practice (a
model or voluntary practice-guiding-document) all come down to this, for
the IBCLC:

"Provide evidence-based information and support so the mother can make an
informed decision about her own and her child's healthcare, in consultation
with her primary healthcare provider."

In other words: "We do the informing; the mother does the deciding."

(Quotes from my own printed and presentation materials.)

I am with Karleen on this one.  Information never hurt anyone, and that
means we offer the mother ALL the information -- the good, the bad, and the
ugly.  That means NOT filtering the information to share the things
consistent with our own personal views.

I have also cautioned IBCLCs *not*  to put themselves in the position of
being "the broker."  Do not Put Mom A (who is weeping with oversupply) in
touch with Mom B (who is weeping is with insufficient glandular tissue).

My rationale for that generalized caution springs more from the JD part of
my brain than the IBCLC part.  This is a VERY unsettled area of law and
practice ... even within our own field, and we are the most "up" on human
milk properties.

It may well be perfectly legal, ethical and moral for an IBCLC to be the
broker.  The only way we are all going to find out is after a test case
involving some IBCLC somewhere who does this ... and who then finds SHE is
at the wrong end of a lawsuit.  It is entirely conceivable that our "test
case IBCLC" will spend years under strain, stress and public acrimony,
after being fired, villified, raked over the deposition-and-trial coals,
uninsurable (and hence unhirable) even if she is eventually vindicated.

I know I don't want to be that "test case IBCLC."  Do you?  We are far
better off personally, and in serving the needs and interests of a mother,
to offer the patient/client "evidence-based information and support so the
mother can make an informed decision about her own and her child's
healthcare, in consultation with her primary healthcare provider."

-- 
Liz Brooks JD IBCLC FILCA
ILCA President (2012-14)
Wyndmoor, PA, USA
Twitter: @LizBrooksIBCLC
FB: www.facebook.com/LizBrooksIBCLC

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