I currently serve as Co-president of the Boston Association for Childbirth Education & Nursing Mothers' Council (BACE/NMC). We count several IBCLCs among our NMC counselors. We also have RNs, BSNs, even one MD (a ped), all of whom took our Fundamentals of Breastfeeding Management course, as a prerequisite for serving as NMC counselors, and who are also required to maintain their breastfeeding knowledge through continuing education.

Some of our IBCLC/volunteers work with us because they started out with NMC and never quit when they became IBCLCs, a kind of giving back for what they feel they received from NMC as new moms themselves.

NMC counselors understand that they are serving as volunteer breastfeeding support counselors. There is an ethics rule in our by-laws that forbids using one's association with the organization for direct personal, or business, financial gain. We do rely on the good faith of our volunteers to respect any ethical considerations related to their activities as counselors. To my knowledge, in the 15 years I have been associated with NMC, there have been no complaints from consumers or others about the ethics of any of our counselors. I do realize, however, that does not necessarily mean that the problem does not exist.

I agree with Liz Brooks that it behooves everyone to employ the smell test when it comes to how one interacts with a vulnerable breastfeeding mom. I want to believe that our focus is on how to help the mother/baby dyad in the best way possible.


Beth Sargent, IBCLC
Needham, Massachusetts, USA
















 I agree with Liz Brooks that it behooves everyone to employ the smell test when it comes to how one interacts with a vulnerable breastfeeding mom. I want to believe that our focus is on how to help the mother/baby dyad in the best way possible.

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