Cheapest, easiest and most people at a conference meaning almost exclusively
conferences in N America hardly helps build an international membership and
cannot help develop a truly international flavour in an organisation. 

It is a bit frightening for those of us outside of the US to see what
appears to be an increased American-ness developing in the lactation
consultancy profession (other non-N Americans might like to chip in if they
feel similarly- it’s something I’ve certainly heard discussed amongst
colleagues here). This is especially so given that the US is such a hostile
environment for breastfeeding mothers and so many, as is often described on
Lactnet, professionals working with mothers in the US often see “pathology”
as “normal.” If ILCA truly wants to be international then having regular
communication between those in all parts of the world will be necessary in
order to prevent the export of pathology as normal via the lactation
consultancy profession from the US to the rest of the world. That would be a
true tragedy.  I’m lucky enough to have been able to travel to conferences
over the place and meet with lactation consultants and others working not
just in my own backyard but in Asia, Oceania and Europe (yet to get to
Africa or N or S America). Seeing and learning from others is so rewarding
and there is a real difference depending on venue location. For example,
even though I am Australian and from a Anglo-Celtic heritage and therefore
pretty familiar with UK culture (Marianne V will tell you how excited I was
to see heather in on a Yorkshire moor- she had no idea what I was so het up
about)- I learnt so much from my visits to UK conferences about how
different things are in the UK compared to here. And then a visit to Norway,
where I expected things to be really different in lots of ways was so
similar to here. I can only imagine what a perspective on breastfeeding
support I might obtain from Africa and I am so excited to be going to the
Philippines in a couple of months to get more of an understanding of infant
feeding issues in Asia.   

 

Anyway, there’s a real issue with ILCA conferences being worked around the N
American membership. It is perhaps not a very strategic move and it’s worth
considering the message that it conveys to IBCLCs and other lactation
professionals not located in N America.

 

Karleen Gribble

Australia

 

Now, let me share some facts about ILCA, and its "internationalness," if I
may.

 

There are currently about 21,000 actively-certified IBCLCs in the world.
4,500 are in Europe; 4,700 in Asia/the Pacific; 12,000 in Americas/Israel
(these are IBLCE's geographic designations).  So, something like 60% of all
IBCLCs worldwide live in the USA.  

 

ILCA currently has about 5,000 members worldwide, with about 80% of its
current members residing in the USA.  So, our membership (right now) roughly
parallels the industry as a whole.  ILCA expects that to change in the next
few years; with the recent creation of Lactation Consultants of Australia
and New Zealand (LCANZ) a multi-national affiliate of ILCA 

ILCA, the numbers of ILCA members in that region is expected to rise ...
with the result being that ILCA membership statistics will more precisely
echo IBCLC certification statistics.  

As a member organization, we derive our funds almost exclusively from
membership fees, and conference registrations.  With nearly 3/4 of its
members residing in the North America (Canada has many IBCLCs and ILCA; it
ain't all USA), the financial reality is that ILCA can attract more
attendees at its conference if it is held in a location that is easiest and
cheapest for the most people to get to.  


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