I have a friend who is an exam candidate for this July. She will be delivering 
her baby a few weeks prior to the exam.  She has consulted with IBCLE to 
discuss her options for breastfeeding during the exam if her baby shows 
feeding cues during the time she is writing.

She was initially told that she could wait to feed her baby at lunch. Now she 
has been told that she will need to pay $150 for a separate proctor for the 
day to accomodate covering her if she needs to leave to feed her baby. Also 
she has been told that she will not be given extra time and that the proctor 
will not do child care. Of course child care was not requested and would never 
have been suggested by the candidate as expected from a proctor.

I am concerned about how this situation has been framed.

I wanted to discuss the topic with this community to see what experiences 
others have had with breastfeeding candidates.  I realize the proctoring is 
now farmed out to support a higher level of integrity for the exam process 
over previous years and accept that necessary change.  However, it is 
concerning that a mother should have to advocate this hard to breastfeed her 
child while writing THIS exam of all things.  

I am inviting opinion on this situation as well as experiences as I believe this 
affects all of us and how we treat all mothers.  We have an obligation to 
create a supportive environment for all mothers. How can we be asked to 
advocate for mothers while still having issues "at home"?  

Janet Vandenberg RN, BScN, IBCLC
Ontario, Canada

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome